Lin
by The Avid Musician
Summary: A single decision can change the direction of fate. One student is in the last compartment when the dementors arrive. From there, everything is left to chance. RL/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: not mine._

**Chapter One**

Lin walked through the Hogwarts Express, searching for an empty compartment. She was already nearing the end of the train, but no compartment was to be found with more than one or two empty seats. That really did not suit Lin's need as of yet.

The number of possible empty compartments was shrinking steadily. In fact, Lin could see the end of the train. However, there was still no sign of an open compartment.

Finally, Lin reached the end of the train. The good news was that she could see no one in the compartment as of yet. She peeked inside silently. Only one person was inside the compartment.

A roughly forty year old man sat hunched over sleeping. His clothes were worn and almost ragged. His face was worn and tired, showing cares beyond his years. However, something more than that was odd about him.

However, for the time here was nowhere else suit her needs of quiet and solitude. With that new purpose in mind, Lin silently entered the compartment and sat opposite the man who would quite obviously become the new defence against the dark arts teacher.

She leaned her head against the window and let herself drift off into her memories for a short rest.

oooooooooooooo

Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to sit in that very same last compartment. Almost as soon as he saw the pair, Ron asked, "Who d'you reckon they are?"

"Professor R. J. Lupin and L. Sarvial," Hermione whispered almost immediately.

How d'you know that?"

"It's on their cases," she replied, pointing at the luggage racks over their heads. While the new Professor's luggage was worn and held together with string, the young woman's was very new and very modern.

The pair was vastly different. While Professor Lupin was relatively middle aged, though that was shown by tints of grewy in his hair, Miss Sarvial seemed ageless, timeless even. Her hair was dark red, and her skin was very pale. Her physiognomy was altogether unusual. It was delicate and beautiful, almost elven even. The Professor was relatively good-looking for a man in either his late 30s or early 40s.

Continuing the contrast, Miss Sarvial's face was partially obscured by the hood of an expensive, black cloak. His clothes, on the other hand, were worn and shabby. She, in contrast, wore what seemed to be a designer, blue sundress made of some of the finest quality of fabrics money could buy.

"Wonder what he teaches?" said Ron, frowning at Professor Lupin's pallid profile.

"That's obvious," whispred Hermione. "There's only one vacancy, isn't there? Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Well, I hope he's up to it," said Ron doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? And what house is she in anyway? I've never seen her before."

"Gryffindor," Hermione whispered.

"Maybe she's a transfer?" Harry suggested.

"No. I remember seeing her once. She's not a transfer," Hermione whispered confidently.

"We should sit with her at the Feast," Harry suggested.

"Anyway..." Ron said, turning to Harry. "What were you going to tell us?"

And the three got down to business.

At one point, Ron became angry that Hermione was going to allow her cat, Crookshanks, to come out. They spoke more loudly then, but it did not wake either of the sleeping persons in the compartments. In fact, Miss Sarvial did not even move a muscle. This same fact alarmed the three. She was quite pale, and she had not even moved. Perhaps she was dead? But no, they could hear her breathing softly. Later, the same question was raised with regard to the new Professor, though his breathing was somewhat more audible than hers.

Somewhat later, three persons approached the compartment door and opened it. "Well, look who it is," said Malfoy. "Potty and the Weasel."

Crabbe and Goyle chuckled trollishly.

"I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley," said Malfoy. "Did your mother die of shock?"

Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks's basket to the floor. Professor Lupin gave a snort.

"Who's that?" said Malfoy, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Lupin. He had not yet spotted Miss Sarvial.

"New teacher," said Harry, who got to his feet, too, in case he needed to hold Ron back. "What were you saying, Malfoy?"

However, now that Harry was standing, Malfoy had a direct line of sight to Miss Sarvial.

"And who's that? Surely not his girlfriend. She's too beautiful for that," Malfoy continued.

"Actually, she's a student in Gryffindor," Hermione corrected.

"What were you saying?" Harry prompted again.

"Just a minute, Potty. What's her name? And what's that brooch on her cloak?"

"L. Sarvial," Hermione said quickly as Malfoy peered at her brooch. It was in the shape of a graceful rune: ζ. It was mainly made of silver, but a curious, glowing white stone was set into it, making it seem to shine even in the semi-darkness.

"C'mon," Malfoy muttered resentfully to Crabbe and Goyle, and they disappeared. He wasn't fool enough to pick a fight under a teacher's nose, and she was powerful enough to threaten everyone on the train combined.

"Why the bloody hell did he just back off?" Ron asked.

"Don't know," Harry said.

"We must be nearly there," said Ron, leaning forward to look between the two sleeping people to the window.

The words had hardly left him when the train began to slow down.

"Great," said Ron, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. "I'm starving and I want to get to the feast..."

"We can't be there yet," said Hermione, checking her watch.

"So why're we stopping?"

The train suddenly stopped, and Miss Sarvial was flung out of her seat to the floor. The three of them looked on, astonished, as she caught herself and picked herself up.

oooooooooooooooooo

Lin was rudely awoken from her rest by the train jolting to a stop. She was thrown from the seat to the floor, though she woke soon enough to catch herself before she could come to any real harm.

She stood and brushed herself off before looking around the compartment. Three, young faces looked back at her with wide eyes. She merely raised a single eyebrow and asked, "Who are you three, whom I have the pleasure of meeting?"

"Well, I'm Ron Weasley," the red-headed boy said first. His whole manner spoke of a poor family.

"I'm Hermione Granger," the bushy, brown-haired girl said. She obviously studied a lot, for she was pale and spoke like a know-it-all.

"I'm Harry Potter," the black-haired boy said, looking as though he dreaded her reaction.

"Pleased to meet you all. I'm assuming you are only here because this was the last partially open compartment," she said in the gentle cadences of an earlier time.

"Wait...you mean you haven't heard of me before?" Harry asked, seemingly astonished.

"Actually, I have, but I do not think it necessary to stare at you," Lin assured him gently.

Harry was utterly speechless. No one had ever been that kind and understanding to him.

"Moving on," Lin said dismissively. She walked over to the door and looked into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments. "They're boarding the train," she whispered in horror.

"Who is?" Harry asked.

"The dementors of Azkaban," she said bluntly. She turned to look at the three of them and said, "Stay in your seats."

The compartment door suddenly opened and someone bumped straight into Lin.

"Sorry-d'you know what's going on?-Ouch-sorry-"

"Hullo, Neville," said Harry as Lin guided Neville past her and over to her seat.

"Harry? Is that you? What's happening?"

"Sit down. Dementors," Harry said quickly.

There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks.

"I'm going to go and ask the driver what's going on," came Hermione's voice. Harry felt her pass him, heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain.

"Who's that?"

"Who's _that_?"

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron-"

"Hurry up and sit down. It is not safe," Lin said quietly.

"Not here!" said Harry hurriedly. "_I'm_ here!"

"Ouch!" said Neville.

"Quiet!" said a hoarse voice suddenly. Professor Lupin had woken.

Suddenly, a soft, white light filled the apartment, centred upon Lin's hand. "I had no idea we would have the honour, Professor Lupin," she said politely.

He looked at her, astonished, for a second before asking, "And who are you?"

"Oh! I am terribly sorry! My name is Liriana Sarvial, though everyone calls Lin," she said.

"I am Professor Remus Lupin. Now, all of you stay where you are," he said in the same hoarse voice.

"Not so fast, Professor. I am coming as well," Lin said confidently, putting a hand on his arm to stop him as he tried to walk past her. Amber eyes surrounded by tan skin stared into deep blue eyes bordered by white skin as the two stared each other down. The professor looked away first because her eyes shone with an unearthly light.

And the door slid slowly open before the two of them. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the white light shining from Lin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry' eyes darted downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, greyish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water.

It was cold, ice cold, as though the depths of winter had permeated the air with icy fingers that clung to them all tenaciously. In this nearly unbearable cold, no happiness lived. There was only despair, anguish, sorrow, pain, sadness, and desolation.

But there stood Lin, bathed in white light as though she were some type of guardian angel. Her hand was stretched forth, and a white shield of light shone out from it, halting the dementor's progress.

Seconds later, the dementor retreated and the cold abated. However, they heard a thud and turned in time to see Harry fall to the floor.

"What was that?" Ron asked.

"That was a dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban," Lupin said.

"Do you have any chocolate? They'll need it," Lin said.

In response, Lupin took some from his coat pocket and held it out for Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Lin to take. However, Lin refused it saying, "I have no need of such comfort."

"You can't be immune to a dementor!" he said, still offering the chocolate.

"And yet I am," she said with a smile. "Watch over them. I need to have a quick word with the driver."

"Hold on just a second!" he exclaimed. "I'm coming with you."

"As you wish," she said simply before asking, "Do you wish to apparate separately?"

"You can apparate?" Lupin asked incredulously.

"I take it that means separate," she said raising her eyebrows slightly. That very same second, she disappeared without the sound which normal accompanied apparition.

A second later Lupin apparated to the front of the train. Lin was already talking with the driver.

"You will not stop the train again until we are at Hogsmeade, Martin. Do you understand?" she said seriously.

"Yes, Miss Lin," he said meekly. He turned back to the controls and set the train in motion again.

Lin turned to look at Lupin and said, "All is as it should be."

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"Quite well actually," she said before apparating back to the last compartment. Lupin once again followed.

He arrived and stopped at the door to the compartment.

"That chocolate is perfectly safe, Harry. Eat it," Lin said as she sat down in her spot again and wrapped her cloak around herself. She was already in her school robes.

As Harry began to eat the chocolate, Lupin walked in and said, "We'll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes. Are you alright, Harry?"

"Fine," he muttered, embarrassed.

As soon as the train had stopped, Lin stood smoothly and walked off into the forest without a word. Lupin stared after her for a few seconds, unable to shake the odd feeling that she wasn't normal. She seemed to float on the air as she walked, which was hardly normal even for a dancer.

Back with Lin, she stepped into the forest and out of sight. As she proceeded further in, her moonstone brooch began to glow a bright white.

Once the trees hid her from view, Lin began to run. After a few seconds, she sped up to her normal pace: 30 miles per hour. She arrived at the castle far before the slow carriages that took the twisting route.

She just walked up to the heavy, oak door and pushed it open to the point where she could slip through. She walked up the stone steps to the Great Hall. She slipped in and found it completely empty.

"Thank goodness," she whispered as she sat at the High table.

"Ah, Lin! I see you've arrived!" she heard Dumbledore say from the doorway.

"Albus?" she said hopefully, looking up. Upon confirmation, she jumped up and ran to the old man, embracing him warmly. A second later, she broke away and looked up at him. "Dementors searched the train for him. They found Harry, but I stopped them," she said seriously.

"Did anyone see you?" he asked hurriedly.

"I managed to shield my magic from all of the students in the compartment...but the new teacher, Remus Lupin, saw it," she said.

"What?" the Headmaster exclaimed.

"There was nothing I could do about it," she said, looking down to the floor.

"He will suspect you now. You will need to be extremely careful around him," Albus said seriously before placing a hand gently on her slender shoulder.

"I can do nothing about it," she said, keeping her head down. "I cannot even return to my people."

Albus put two fingers under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. "Do not lose hope. You will find a way eventually."

"There is no way," she said, turning away from him.

"Albus, the students are coming," the Bloody Baron said, floating through the wall to look at them. "Oh, Lin, my friend. Are you feeling off again?"

"Yes. Would you please guide her to the Astronomy Tower?" Albus said gently.

"Certainly, Albus," the ghost said, floating over to the two of them.

"Come, Lin. Let's go have a look at the stars," the Bloody Baron said, putting a hand behind her back as if he were actually touching her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Ten minutes later, Lin slipped into the flood of students entering the Great Hall. She walked over and sat alone at the Gryffindor table. Seconds later, Harry sat to her right. Hermione sat across from her and Ron sat to Hermione's left.

"Hello, you three," Lin said before any of them could speak.

"Hi," Harry said awkwardly.

"I am assuming you are only sitting here because you felt I was some lonely recluse that just wanted friends, correct?" she said.

"...what?" Ron asked. His education was obviously rather lacking.

"We just wanted to thank you for stopping that dementor on the train," Hermione said, thinking quickly.

"You are welcome," she said quietly.

"Hello, Harry, Hermione, Ickle Ronny. Who's this you're sitting with?" Fred or George said as the twins sat on the other side of Lin.

"I am Lin Sarvial," she said, turning to look at them.

"Pleasure to meet you," they replied in unison.

At that point, Dumbledore began the ceremonies of the evening. Without further ado, the first years were sorted, followed by the introduction of the new staff member, Professor Remus Lupin.

As soon as the feast had begun, Remus Lupin looked around at all of the students. The very next day, he would have to learn each and every one of their names, and their reputations. However, none of the students interested him more than Miss Sarvial, whom he had met on the train. She quite frankly fascinated him, for she appeared quite capable of very powerful wandless magic. That in turn begged the question, why is she still in school?

In this same examination of the students, he spotted a girl who had to be a seventh year. Her dark red hair and her ghostly white skin made her stand out where her small stature and build diminished her. _She's beautiful...so, so beautiful...Her hair must be soft...her skin, so smooth...Wait! She's a student! Don't think like that!_

High, bird-like laughter startled him from his thoughts. He looked around for the source and found Miss Sarvial gazing intently at him. Her deep blue eyes shone with mirth. _Many have had similar thoughts, _Professor Lupin_. Have no fear._

_Fear of what?_

_That is for you to decide, Professor. You are the one in control of your own mind._

_ Wise words from one so young._

She laughed again. It was such a musical laugh. _We shall see._

_ Wait! What spell are you using? I have never seen a spell like this so strong._

_ You are the teacher. You should know better than I._

_ Unless it is obscure._

She laughed once more in his head. _I shall see you in class, Professor._

_ Wait! What year are you in? What house?_

_ I am a seventh year Gryffindor._

Quite suddenly, the touch of her mind to his was gone. He looked back to see her talking with the Weasley twins, who sat next to her. On her other side, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, sat talking secretively amongst themselves.

oooooooooo

After the feast, the newly hired Professor Lupin retired early. As he was looking out of his window that night, he saw a cloaked figure out walking on the grounds. A part of him thought it was a Death Eater. The other part of him was wholly convinced that it was Lin. Though, he was more inclined to believe the latter than the former.

How could she ward away a dementor without even a wand? He had never heard of any witch or wizard who could do that. Not even Dumbledore or the Dark Lord himself had such power. Whatever she was, she was unlike anyone he had ever met.

ooooooooooo

The following day, Lin looked over her new schedule and noticed that Defence Against the Dark Arts was her first subject on Mondays. She had a feeling she could quite easily dread that class. But, she had already taken it more than once in her very long life, so what was different? Of course it was the expected bombardment of questions by the new teacher of said class. That alone would deter her from another encounter with said Professor.

Merely shaking her head, Lin gathered up her books for the day and placed them neatly in her school bag before walking leisurely down to the Common Room and out into the corridors beyond the portrait entryway.

Of course, breakfast meant eating at the Gryffindor table again. While the trio and twins had been friendly enough, she rather dreaded having them near. She did not want anyone to find out who or what she was. That would be simply disastrous. Yet, the more time she spent with them, the more like it was that they would find out what she was.

With that in mind, Lin unobtrusively walked into the Great Hall. Very few people were there at present, mostly because it was still quite early. Thankfully, none of her new acquaintances were there at present. She did not even bother to sit. She merely took an apple and a piece of bread before leaving to avoid the majority of the students.

She always spent her mornings thusly, walking about the school well before many of the inhabitants had awoken. It was times like these that her particular physiology became particularly useful. She did not actually sleep. Her rest was more of a deep trance where she saw clearly her memories through her subconscious. She was also unusual in that she only needed to enter this trance-like state for three or so hours every day, and she could easily forego this rest for several days at a time.

ooooooooooooo

Four or five hours later, Lin's meanderings about the school took her to her first class of the day: Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Remus Lupin. She arrived several minutes early to sit in the back of the classroom and read one of the many books that she had yet to read.

A few pages into her reading, she heard a door open and close. _It is from the wrong side of the room to be a student. The new professor has arrived. Queue bombardment of questions._

"Miss Sarvial, what are you doing here so early?" Professor Lupin asked.

"Reading, sir," she said bluntly. She did not even look up.

"So few young people take the time to read anymore," he said wistfully.

"That same fact is most likely the cause of much of the prejudice in the world today," Lin said regretfully.

"What are you reading?" Lupin asked, walking toward her from across the room.

"The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux," she said, pausing for a second to show him the cover.

"The muggle classics are dreadfully underappreciated," Lupin said sadly.

"So it would seem at present," she said with a sad nod.

"Which of the characters do you sympathize with the most?" he asked.

"I sympathize with Erik. All of the dreadful things that happen to him throughout the course of the book are hardly his fault. Rather, it is the fault of the many people who sought to exclude him or even go so far as killing him merely for a misshapen face," she said honestly, if rather bitterly.

"You sound quite impassioned about that. You can't have had such troubles," he said, astonished.

"Think again. I am worlds different from the other students," Lin said.

"How so?" Lupin asked, pushing onward with his questions.

"That is for me to know and for you to preferably not find out," she said dismissively as two other students walked in.

As soon as the class was over, Lin hurried out the door to avoid the now huge number of questions that her Professor obviously had.

"Good afternoon," he said to them. "Would you all please put your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

All of the students, including Lin, complied. Lupin led them out the door of the classroom to the teacher's lounge. He had them all stand on one side of the room, across from the wardrobe.

"I assume you are all familiar with boggarts, so let's get a little practice with them in, shall we? Please form a line," Lupin said.

All seven of the seventh years did so, with Lin as the very last. Each of the students performed the spell perfectly, and each time the boggart turned into something that reflected their worst fears.

Finally, it was Lin's turn,. She stepped forward hesitantly, dreading what would come. The boggart took one look at her and began to change. It morphed into a bald man in kilt. Her was very muscular and handsome, but somehow inhuman and ethereal. He was over six feet tall.

This figure held out his hand and said in a deep, powerful voice that just exuded charisma, "_Come to me, my love!"_

Lin's muscles locked and her eyes dilated. Her face paled, but she raised her arm and said hoarsely, "_Riddikulus!"_

The man stumbled back. He now wore a pink apron with hearts and lacy frills. She began to laugh that same high, melodious laugh, but her tone was strained. The boggart vanished in a puff smoke, and the whole room was deadly silent. Lin stayed rooted to the spot, staring at where the boggart had vanished. A second later, she fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Lupin and the other students, one of which was Percy Weasley, hurried forward to her. Lupin pulled his wand out and said, "_Ennervate!"_

She remained unconscious. "Sir, she should be taken to the Hospital."

"I'll do it," he the Professor said, scooping the surprisingly light student up into his arms. "Class dismissed," he said to them before leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

As soon as Lin's classes were over for the day, Lin hurried up to the Headmaster's office. She knew that he would know what to do about Lupin.

While she approached the door to Dumbledore's office, she listened carefully to make sure she was not interrupting anything. She could hear nothing to suggest that a meeting was taking place, so she pushed the large door open.

Inside, the Headmaster himself sat behind his large desk reading. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and said, "Ah, Lin! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Lupin suspects," she said bluntly.

"I suspect what, Miss Sarvial?" the same teacher asked from the side of the room, near where the pensive was stored.

She whipped around to look at him and said pointedly, "Nothing that you need to know about."

"I would very much like to know why you seem so odd, Sarvial," Lupin said, standing from his seated position on a rather rarely used chair in the corner.

"Well I am certainly not going to tell you, _Professor_, as you have no need to know," she said, turning on her heel to walk out of the office.

"Albus, why can't you tell me who or what she is?" Lupin asked

"That information is not mine to give. If she decides to tell you, then that is that. If not, there is no way that you will find out," Albus said.

"She just seems so old, older than me even," Lupin said, thinking out loud.

The Headmaster snorted at that but otherwise remained silent.

"She's so intelligent, and she seems to know everyone. She has such an otherworldly feel, as though she's not human," Lupin continued.

Albus was determined to stay silent at this remark.

"Is she dangerous?" Lupin asked.

"We are all dangerous," the Headmaster answered vaguely.

Lupin took this to mean that he would get no information out of the Headmaster any time soon.

oooooooooo

Thanks to being a 7th year, Lin had much free-time. Since it was in the first week, she liked to observe the Care of Magical Creatures classes to see just how they reacted to all of the new and delightful magical creatures they were introduced to. Because of a near constant contact with Hagrid, she was well informed as to when each class had a new creature to deal with.

One such day was today. The third years would be dealing with hippogriffs. That in and of itself was bound to be interesting, never mind this was their first real experience with magical creatures.

With that purpose in mind, Lin walked calmly down the path to the clearing within the Forbidden Forest. This was where Hagrid intended to show off the hippogriffs, and this was where she perched herself in one of the trees, out of sight yet with a perfect view point.

Not two minutes later, Lin heard the trample of many feet. Sure enough, Hagrid and his class of Gryffindor and Slytherin third years were approaching the clearing.

Upon their entrance into the clearing, Hagrid called out to them, "Right, you lot. Less cha'ering. Form a grou' over there. And open yer books to page for'y-nine."

"Exactly how do we do that?" a blond Slytherin boy asked snidly. _Ah, it seems as though we have a Malfoy. This should be interesting._

"Jus' stroke the spine, of course. Goodness me!" The last Hagrid said under his breath so the whole class would not hear him.

All of the students looked uncertainly at their books. Hesitantly, they began to stroke the spines of their books. One unfortunate boy released his book from the belt he had clamped it in before stroking the spine. The book attacked him rather ferociously.

"I think they're funny," Hermione, the girl with the curly hair from the train, declared. Her tone bespoke haughty intelligence, not at all flattering in one so young.

"Oh, yeah. Terribly funny. Really witty. God this place has gone to the dogs! Wait until my father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes!" the Malfoy boy declared loudly. His large crones agreed with him via chuckling.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said boldly, walking toward him.

Malfoy handed his bag off to one of his followers before stepping forward. He looked up at the sky and began to act really scared. He called out, "Dementor! Dementor!"

As all of the Gryffindors turned around in alarm, the Slytherins laughed. The Malfoy boy's gang flipped up the hoods of their robes and acted as though they were rather cheesy ghosts, not at all what a dementor would be like.

Finally, Lin had had enough. She raised her hand and in one swift motion, all of the Slytherin students' pants were on the forest floor, showing the no doubt embarrassing undergarments beneath.

This time the Gryffindor students laughed while the Slytherin students attempted to pull their pants back up. "Who did that?" the Malfoy boy exclaimed.

There was a general muttering of, "Not me." No one admitted because of course none of them had done it.

The Slytherins did not get a chance to become truly mad for Hagrid called the class to order by clearing his throat before announcing the entrance of a Hippogriff. Many of the students looked at it in horror. One student in particular, Ron, asked, "What exactly is that?"

"That, Ron, is a hippogriff. Firs' thing you wanna know abou' hippogriffs is they're very proud creatures, _very_ easily offended. You _do not_ want to insult a hippogriff. It may just be the last thing you ever do," Hagrid said, addressing the class. "Who'd like to come and say hello?" Hagrid asked.

The class backed away in fear, except for Harry. Thus it looked like he had stepped forward.

"Well done, Harry. Well done," Hagrid said, not noticing that the rest of the class had backed away.

Harry looked behind him before hesitantly stepping forward. As Hagrid instructed him, he moved closer and closer to the hippogriff and finally was stroking his beak. Hagrid then picked the poor boy up and set him atop the hippogriff. And thus Harry had his first hippogriff ride.

From the look on his face when he landed, he had greatly enjoyed it. The class and Hagrid were clapping when he did land.

"Oh please," the Malfoy boy exclaimed sourly as Hagrid lifted Harry off the hippogriff. The two whispered a short conversation, no doubt in encouragement, before the Malfoy boy stepped forward.

The pale boy walked straight up to the hippogriff, insulting him as he went. "Malfoy!" Hagrid called, but the boy paid him no heed.

The hippogriff reared and cut the boy's arm, making him fall to the ground. However, Lin could see even from a distance that the wound was not at all bad. It was, as Hagrid soon said, a scratch.

Lin quickly dropped down from the branch she had been perched on and ran in front of the raging hippogriff. "_Quiet down, sir. You have wounded the boy enough!"_ she said forcefully in her native tongue. From there, the hippogriff very quickly calmed. She put a hand on his neck and led him away from the wounded boy. She called behind her, "Hagrid, take him to the Hospital. I'll watch over your class and this one."

"His name's Buckbeak," he supplied.

"Thank you. Now, hurry," she said. Hagrid nodded and quickly picked up the Malfoy boy, doing as she had said.

"Now, Class, come closer. I want you all to be able to hear me," Lin said.

"Lin, what language were you speaking?" Harry asked. He had been the first to notice the difference.

"That would be my native tongue, Harry. I can't say more than that. Anyway, as you have just seen, hippogriffs are indeed easily offended. Whenever you approach a hippogriff, you must do so with respect and dignity. Do not rush the process, or you will find yourself much worse than Mr. Malfoy," she said, continuing to stroke Buckbeak's nose.

"Do you all understand this?" she asked, looking around at them all.

When they all nodded or said, "Yes," she said simply, "Class dismissed."

Most of the class bolted out of the area back to the castle. The three that she had met on the train were the only ones left.

"Hello, you three," she said quietly.

"Hi," they all said.

"Harry, I must say that was a fantastic first hippogriff flight. Most people fall off the first time," she said, nodding her head to him.

"Thank you," Harry said modestly.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Ron asked.

"I was watching from that branch," Lin said, pointing out a branch fifteen feet from the ground.

"Wouldn't it hurt to jump to the ground from there?" Hermione asked.

Lin smiled and said, "I am stronger than I look. I believe you three had best be heading off to the castle."

They just looked at each other and shrugged. However, Harry stopped the other two by asking, "What about you, Lin?"

She smiled and said, "If you wish to include me I would be happy to oblige."

Lin turned back to Buckbeak and whispered into his ear, "_Go back home. You deserve a rest."_

She then returned to the same tree and retrieved her school bag before joining the three of them in the walk back to the castle.

On the way back, they continued to ask her all sorts of questions about how she had calmed Buckbeak and such. It did not even occur to them that she had been the one that had caused the Slytherins' pants to fall, thus embarrassing them and allowing the Gryffindors to win the stand off.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Through the following week, Professor Lupin seemed to become ill. His skin became gaunt and pale, and he seemed to be increasingly weak. As Lin began to notice these signs, she began to take more care around him.

At the beginning of the next week, this same Professor Lupin began to smell. It was not at all great or overt, but Lin's acute olfactory senses allowed her to smell this scent with rather more ease than she would like. In fact, she could smell it the second the previously named professor stepped into the great hall.

Before the first class of that same day, Lin purposely decided to help the now sickly man to prepare for his classes. When she was nearly done and almost ready to depart for her first class, she said rather simply and bluntly to him, "Don't forget to take your Wolfsbane potion tonight."

Despite having her back turned, Lin could sense that Lupin had completely frozen at the mention of his 'condition'. She turned to look at him and said, "Do not worry. I shall not tell anyone."

The Professor turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "Did Dumbledore tell you?" he asked suspiciously.

"He did not need to. I can smell it," she said.

"No human can smell that well. You can't be one, too, or you'd be sick right now, so what are you?" he asked, practically thinking out loud.

"That, once again, I will not say until a time of my choosing," she said, nodding to him as a good bye before walking out the door.

"Wait!" he called, dashing after her.

Lin merely turned, inclined her head, and raised an eyebrow to him.

"You don't...think any differently of me...because of this, do you?" he asked.

"You are the same person. My opinion of you has not changed," she said reassuringly before turning again. _Thank goodness. Wait...wy does her opinion matter so much to me?_

"Thank you," he said to her as she walked away.

Without turning back, Lin said simply, "You are welcome."

ooooooooooo

That very evening, Lin was walking through the corridor after dinner. Presently, she calm, but she had heard a great commotion in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. She did not listen closely to find what the uproar was all about.

Because of that, it came as a great surprise when she turned a corner to see a large, black dog down the corridor.

"I know who you are," she said to the dog.

The black dog merely turned and barked once at her before continuing to trot away down the hall. It seemed to be in quite a hurry.

"Come back and face me, Sirius," she said, knowing that he would hear her.

When he did not stop, Lin raised her hand. The dog transformed into a man.

"How did you do that?" the man demanded, turning to look at her.

"That is unimportant. What is important is that you, my falsely accused friend would be captured already had you turned that corner. Your old _friend_ Severus is about a hundred feet down along that corridor searching for you," she said, walking slowly toward him.

"Do you have the Marauder's Map?" the scruffy, unkempt man demanded.

"You should know by now Sirius that I have no need of such things, or do you not remember being caught far more than once in the act of pranking while you were at school here?" Lin said, coming to stand five feet from him.

"Professor Sarvial?" he exclaimed, "It can't be you! You'd be-"

"78 years old by your reckoning, though actually far more," she finished.

"What are you?" Sirius asked, his greasy, wild, long hair flying into his face.

"That is, again, unimportant. What is important is that your old friend Remus Lupin is here teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Once you can convince him of your innocence, you will have an ally in both him and Albus," Lin said.

"And you?" Sirius asked. If she could transform him without even a wand, he did not want her against him.

"That would depend upon your actions. Now, who are you searching for?" she continued coolly.

"Peter Pettigrew," Sirius spat out.

"Ron's rat?"

"Use the corridor on your right-hand side. It offers a faster escape. Until later, my dear sir, _adieu_," she said before melting into the shadows.

"Wait!" he called, but she was already gone.

"I heard something this way!" a voice called from a distance away.

Hearing this, Sirius took off along the corridor she had directed, hoping to get away from his pursuers. He could not have his revenge if they, who were most likely the Professors, caught him.

Her curiosity aroused, Lin made her way toward the commotion. It was no longer toward Gryffindor Tower. It now seemed to be coming from the Great Hall. With this direction in mind, Lin began to run.

As Lin stepped through the doors, she noticed several things. The First of these was that the house tables were pushed off against one wall. Rows and rows of purple sleeping bags were strewn about on the floor. The students of Hogwarts were all talking, huddling into scared groups as they did.

Near the centre of the room, Dumbledore and the faculty were gathered in a group discussing something. She walked straight to them and tapped the Headmaster on the shoulder.

When he turned to face her, Lin said simply, "You won't find him. He left."

"And how, exactly do you know this?" Snape asked ominously, stepping toward her.

"You'll find, Severus, that she has her ways," Dumbledore said. He would have chuckled were it not for the fact that she seen Sirius Black.

Either way, he turned to Professor McGonagall and said, "Minerva, call off the search."

She hurried over and asked, "Why, Albus? He could still be in the castle!"

"He is gone. That I can assure you of," Lin said to her.

McGonagall turned to look at her and said, "Oh, Lin! If you say so, I trust you."

Lin looked suspiciously over at the Headmaster. He looked her in the eye and nodded his head slightly. _So she knows what I am, but I wonder if he told her what happened._

"Headmaster, I must admit I hardly think it right to trust such a serious matter to the word of a seventeen year old witch," Snape said, his voice oily.

"Severus, you'll soon learn to trust her. She knows things none of us know, can do things none of us can do," Albus said.

"Like what, precisely?" the Slytherin asked.

Lin smiled and said, "Look around." Snape did so, but was soon struggling greatly to conceal two emotions: shock and awe. All of the sleeping bags in the hall were flashing different colours at a rapid pace. They finally settled back on the same shade of purple as before.

Many of the students stopped talking to look at this feat, though they did not know how hard it actually was to control the colour of all of them. Soon, they entire hall was watching her perform the spell.

"Well, Severus, it seems you have been proven wrong," Albus said cheerfully.

"Very well," Snape said, his voice dark in displeasure. He turned on his heel and walked away.

"Minerva, would you mind organizing the staff into shifts to watch the students?" the Headmaster asked kindly.

"Not at all, Albus," she said, hurrying away to perform her duty.

"Good night," Dumbledore said to Lin. His eyes shone with their own private joke.

She smiled in return and said, "_Vanadu_." (Good night)

Lin left the Great Hall then. Rather than going for a walk, as she normally would have, she went to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. She walked straight through there without stopping, continuing straight to the door to Professor Lupin's office. After all, it can't be fun having to sit alone in your office while you wait to turn back into a human. He could probably use some company.

When she arrived at his door, Line did not bother to knock. It was late enough that he would have transformed already, and thus he could not answer the door. In lieu of that, she opened the door and walked inside.

She looked around and called, "Professor Lupin?" No large wolf that was actually her professor appeared, so she assumed he was hiding.

"Lupin, I already know you're a werewolf. You don't need to be ashamed. Come out," she said, beginning to look behind pieces of furniture.

After several seconds of silence, she tried again saying, "The floor is quite cold, is it not? I'll just light the fire for you so you won't freeze." And she did just that.

When the task was done, she stood and turned away from the fireplace to see two yellow eyes peeking out from under the desk.

"There you are," she said, smiling. She motioned with her hand and said, "Come over here and lay on the rug. I think you could use some company."

He still seemed hesitant. "If this is because I am a student, I shall not tell, nor does it particularly matter," she said.

That promise and assurance convinced him. He came out from under his desk and trotted over to nuzzle her arm. Obviously, his wolf instincts were still at least partially controlling him.

He barked once before walking over to curl up on the rug. His finishing touch in becoming situated was to lay his head on her leg. She smiled and continued to stroke his head.

"...Do you read often?" she asked.

The wolf lifted his head from her lap to nod before resting it there once more. "I remember from earlier that you rather enjoy the Muggle classics. Do you have any around?"

The wolf got up and trotted over to a large bookcase beside the desk. Lin followed him over and searched the collection of books for a good topic. However, it seemed Lupin had already decided. He went up on his hind legs and leaned against the book shelf for support. He began to paw at a specific book. Lin took the cover and read aloud the name, slightly sceptical, "The Phantom of the Opera_?_

Lupin the wolf barked once before trotting back over to the rug by the fire. Lin smiled, shook her head, and returned to her place.

She read to him well into the night. Finally, he fell asleep, his head still resting on her lap. Lin smiled and spread her cloak over him. He would be cold otherwise when he turned back into a human. She carefully marked the place where she had stopped in the book before laying it beside him and slipping out of the room for a walk. After that, she just returned the Great Hall, knowing that no one would miss her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The next day, as Lin had expected, Professor Lupin was not teaching class. His 'condition' entirely prevented that. For the whole day, he would be recovering, leaving the teaching of his classes to another Professor. Most likely, it would fall to Prof. Snape, and she was right.

However, she had not expected that same professor to focus the entire lesson on the recognition of werewolves. Obviously, he knew about his fellow professor. Most likely, he brewed the wolfsbane potion that turned the transformation into a peaceful one.

Because of that, Lin returned to his office again after dinner. The moon was now waning, so he would not transform again. However, he would be ill and tired because of the transformation.

This time, she knocked at the door. From within, she heard a weak, male voice call, "Come in."

She walked in and asked, "How are you recovering?"

"Not as well as I could hope, but then, well enough," he said. His skin was far more drawn and pale than she had ever seen it. His eyes had bags under them, and his expression clearly showed his weariness.

"I think you would benefit from a full night's sleep," Lin said.

"Now those I rarely get," he said, quirking one corner of his mouth.

"I could easily fix that for you," Lin offered.

"Really? What could you do?" Lupin asked, genuinely interested. He was sitting up straighter in interest.

Lin smiled and said, "I know a spell that will knock you out for eight, restful hours of sleep."

Lupin's eyes lit up. However, before he could say anything Lin said, "I'll take that as a yes. I would recommend that you lay down flat, unless you wish to sleep sitting up."

Slowly, showing his soreness and weakness, he scooted down so that he was laying flat on his back. "Alright, and thank you in advance," he said.

She smiled and said, "It is no problem." She raised her hand, and a small tendril of light shot forth from the tip of her index finger. It drifted lower and lower to lightly touch Lupin's forehead. He was asleep instantly.

ooooooooooooo

A week passed and Professor Lupin returned to his previous health. He retained that amount of health for two weeks before the next full moon began to approach. Five days before the next full moon, his health began to decline again. On the third day of this decline, with only two more nights after that night before the full moon, Lupin finally decided that he needed to sleep more to make the transformation less draining on his health.

That very day, he was lucky enough to be teaching a seventh year NEWT class, which included none other than Miss Lin Sarvial. In light of that, Lin found herself in Lupin's classroom after class as the rest of her class hurried outside to study in the sunlight. She stood facing the professor.

"Yes, Professor?" Lin asked, stopping herself from inclining her head.

"You're sure to have noticed by now that the full moon is again approaching. As you can see, I've been getting more and more ill. I was wondering if you could cast that spell again, the one that allowed me to sleep...if you wouldn't mind..." Lupin said, struggling to phrase it well.

"Certainly, Sir. Shall I come after dinner again?" she said obligingly.

"Yes, that would be wonderful," he said, smiling wearily.

"I shall see you then, sir," Lin said, nodding to him before leaving.

On every night before that full moon, Lin came to administer the sleep spell to Lupin. Because of her help, he was not as tired, weary, or pale. He also seemed a bit stronger, as though he was recuperating somewhat.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The day of the full moon was a day that Remus Lupin both dreaded and anticipated. Once again, he would have to take the wolfsbane potion. He would be again forced to transform into a large wolf. Again, the next day he would not be able to do anything but recuperate.

However, Lin had stayed with him and kept him company at his last transformation. No one had done that since his school days, and those were long gone. That same point was also a sore point. She was so much younger than him. She should not be spending time with an old werewolf, especially not during transformation.

Despite that, something kept nagging at the back of his mind. She seemed to be a normal seventh year NEWT student. Under that guise, there was something very odd about that girl. The way she spoke, never using contractions or slang, always speaking concisely and to the point, it was more than unusual for someone of her age. She seemed wise far beyond her years, more so than almost any of the Hogwarts staff. In all of his classes, she had gotten every single spell right the first time with absolutely no hesitation. Every paper was perfectly written and exactly correct. Even aside from all of that, there was something off about her. She was powerful. How much so, he dare not find out. He had heard the story from Flitwick of her creating a wandless wordless Patronus. In fact, she could probably take her DADA NEWT the very next day and get an O.

That same night, many of Lupin's questions would be answered. However, the answers would raise far more questions than he already had. His curiosity would be peaked, forcing him to search for an answer that he would not find except directly from the source.

ooooooooooo

That evening, Lin once again walked right into Lupin's office without knocking. She looked around but walked straight to the fire and sat down. "Come on over, Lupin. I have some things to tell you," she called into the seemingly empty room.

Seconds later, the wolf trotted over to her and laid down with his head on her lap again. Lin smiled before growing serious again. "I think it rather unfair that I know so much about you and your condition, yet you know nothing about me. I also suppose you've been rather curious as to what I am," she began.

Lin looked down at the werewolf and said, "Do not look so eager. I am not going to tell you everything. This is more of a nudge in the right direction to get you off my back," she said sternly to him.

Lupin let out a whine and lifted his head up to look her in the eye.

"Do not try that. It will not work. Now, settle down. You should be happy I am telling you anything at all," she said, taping his nose once. The werewolf obeyed, setting his head down once more on her leg.

Lin resumed her stroking and took a deep breath before she began. "As you have undoubtedly surmised, I am not human. I will not specify what exactly I am, and I doubt you will find any clues in the school library."

"You will remember that I have an O in your class. I have the same grade in every class. I have learned all of this before, but that would be unnecessary because I can remember things once I have heard them once. That means that it appears as though I get every spell, every potion, and every instruction right on the first try because I already know all of it. In the past, some teachers have been suspicious, but none delved so deeply nor behaved so persistently as you. You may assume from that knowledge that my lifespan is considerably greater than that of humans."

"The next part may come as slightly more of a shock. I have lived at Hogwarts for the past 87 years. At first, I took a few years to understand the language and customs before I posed as a student to learn magic. I already knew my form of magic, but to blend in I needed to use a wand."

"As you have noticed, most of the physical aspects of my race are similar to, if not identical, humans. You may think me small, but I am of a normal size for my race. The other differences in appearance will offer you the largest clues as to what I am. I will save that for a bit later. Undoubtedly, you will know what I am once you have seen them."

"Now, shall we see how far you have progressed with the Phantom of the Opera?" she asked, standing.

Lupin the wolf leapt up and sped over to the desk. There, sitting conspicuously at the centre, was the same copy of Gaston Leroux's horror novel. An aged, wrinkling bookmark had marked the place, significantly farther along than last time. She smiled seeing that and brought the book back over. From then on, the events of that night echoed those of the previous full moon.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

The next day, Snape once again taught Lupin's classes. He seemed to take particular pleasure in teaching a lesson on nocturnal monsters in general, frequently mentioning the werewolf this time. This behaviour made Lin mad, but she controlled her anger as she knew she must.

In the evening, Lin visited Lupin again, knowing he would need a full night's sleep. They hardly talked before she cast the sleeping spell on him, allowing him to rest.

The day of the Quidditch match dawned cloudy and rainy. Neither were promising conditions. As the morning progressed, the light rain progressed into a torrential downpour. These conditions were far from promising for the Quidditch match.

Despite that, Lin walked out to the field with the throng of students and staff to take a seat in the bleachers, ready to watch the game. The stands were, as always, packed full. Lin squeezed in with the rest of the Gryffindor crowd to watch the game and cheer the team on.

It was a very good thing that Lin did not mind being cold and wet, or she would be sick as many of her classmates were the next day.

Part way through the game, lightning struck the end of one player's broomstick, but it was quickly extinguished by the rain.

Only a minute later, it seemed that the two seekers had spotted the snitch. The Hufflepuff seeker flew up with his arm stretched out to catch it. Harry, the Gryffindor seeker, was not far behind. However, the Hufflepuff seeker was struck by lightning. He fell about halfway to the ground before catching himself and pulling out to a stable flying position.

Still Harry flew onward and upward, always toward the snitch. As he flew, rain began to freeze on his broomstick handle and eye goggles, but he still flew onward.

However, the next the thing he knew there were dementors flying at him, sucking the happiness out of both him and the crowd. Lin sensed them and looked worriedly up into the clouds. Still, the crowd could not feel it.

Suddenly, a figure came plummeting down from the clouds. It was Harry! Lin noticed nothing but that as she quickly stood and stretched her hand out.

Harry's descent slowed instantly. By the time he reached the ground, he was slow enough to lightly set down.

Everyone stared at her in shock. Seeing this, Lin ran from the stands. As soon as she was out of sight on the stairs, she jumped down to the ground and ran back to the castle.

oooooooooooooooo

As soon as the dementors were gone and Harry was in the hospital, Dumbledore hurried to his office. Once he had entered the room, he hurriedly closed the door and used a powerful locking spell.

"Lin, why did you have to reveal yourself like that?" he demanded as he turned back from the door.

"Would you rather have had Harry fall to his death?" she demanded. She was seated in a chair off to his left, one leg stretched over the arm of the chair.

"I could have handled it," he insisted.

"You and I both know that my reflexes are far better than yours. He would have broken bones if I had let you deal with it," she said.

"Yes, but now everyone has seen how powerful you are! What are we to tell them?"

"Perhaps there's a way to solve this without actually telling anyone anything," Lin said, her foot beginning to tap the air as that leg dangled from the armrest.

"What do you mean?" the Headmaster asked. After all, she had some pretty brilliant ideas sometimes.

"Perhaps, if you arrange for me to take my NEWTs as soon as possible, they would think that you didn't know," she said, looking up at him.

"I will have to explain to the staff. They won't believe that," he said.

"But the students will, and that is the biggest problem," she said.

"What will I tell the staff? I can't tell them the truth, or you'd never be able to stay at Hogwarts," he said, thinking harder still.

"What if you told them that you were waiting until I graduated to hire me, but this gives you an excuse to hire me earlier?" Lin asked. "Would that work?" Her foot was still bobbing in the air.

"That's brilliant!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"I have my moments," she said, shrugging.

Almost the second Lin stopped talking, the door burst open and McGonagall hurried into the room, shutting the door behind her. "What are you going to do, Albus?" she asked worriedly.

"I've arranged for her to take her NEWTs on Monday. We need to tell the staff that we intended to hire her as soon as she was out of school," Dumbledore said calmly.

"Severus and Remus will suspect," she said, knowing they were the most suspicious and perceptive of the staff.

"That is why you get the lovely job of convincing Snape, and I shall speak to Lupin," Lin said from behind her.

"Lin! You're here. Are you sure you can convince him?" McGonagall said, turning quickly in surprise.

"Quite sure," she replied confidently.

Even as she spoke, the door opened and in came Professor Flitwick and Hagrid. "Dumbledore-" Flitwick began to say.

The Headmaster interrupted by saying, "You're here about Lin Sarvial. Let's wait until Severus arrives before we begin."

They did not have to wait long. Moments later, the door opened again and Snape came in. "Headmaster, I-" he began.

"Your questions are about to be answered, Professor Snape. I would suggest being patient enough to hear a full explanation of the current situation. If you have any more questions at that time, I would be happy to answer them," Lin said from her place lounging on the chair.

The three newly arrived Professors turned quickly to look at her because they had not known she was there. Unfortunately for Snape, because of the way she had phrased that, Snape could not reproach her for disrespect, even though she had been quite bold.

"Now, you're all here about Li- Miss Sarvial here. I've known about her power for some tme. I was going to hire her as soon as she graduated," Dumbledore said, beginning the explanation.

"At what post?" Snape interjected suspiciously.

"I would have started as an assistant unless Defence Against the Dark Arts wasn't filled. In that case, I would have taken _that_ post," Lin said calmly.

The Professors studied her for a second as she lounged nonchalantly. She seemed complacent, calm, and confident.

"What are you going to do now?" Flitwick asked.

"I have arranged for Lin to take her NEWTs on Monday. After that, I'll hire her."

Everyone was silent, pondering what this would mean. After several seconds of silence, Hagrid said, "Good...Good luck on your NEWTs..." Flitwick copied the half-giant's well-wishing moments later. The two of them left right after that, seeing no reason to stay.

However, Snape stayed, peering at her suspiciously. Lin met his gaze calmly. After a few moments, she looked over to McGonagall and Dumbledore. "I'll go tell him," she said.

The Headmaster nodded before turning to Snape. Now came the hard part: convincing the skeptic.

Lin left quickly and walked through the corridors at an accelerated pace. She hurried to Lupin's office and knocked before listening for an answer. _Please be awake._

"Come in," Lupin called as usual. _Thank the wind!_

Lin stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. "Ah, Lin! How was the match? Who won?" Lupin called jovially, though still weary.

"Hufflepuff won. Harry fell from his broom-" she began.

"What? He's a fantastic flier! Why did he fall?" Lupin asked quickly.

"The dementors came. When Harry fell, he was unconscious...I saved him, but...the staff knows that I'm powerful. They are suspicious...Dumbledore arranged for me to take my NEWTs on Monday to placate their curiosity...After that...After that, Dumbledore will hire me," she explained. As she spoke, her feelings began to show in that her tone was becoming less and less controlled, and more and more worried.

"Lin, come over here," he said, sounding surprisingly unaffected by this news.

She walked over to the far side of the room and stopped at the side of his bed. After all, he had been bedridden since the full moon.

"Everything will be fine," he said, looking her straight in the eye."

"I wish it was so simple," she said, looking down to hide her eyes. She blinked quickly, hoping the tears would not fall.

Seeing this, Lupin reached out and took her hand. He used that to guiode her to a seat beside him on the bed. "Why isn't it?" he asked.

"You know I cannot tell you," she said, looking up for a second.

Lupin put his other hand on her shoulder and said, "The only thing stopping you is yourself," he said seriously. _What a cliché!_

She tried to stand, but Lupin pulled her back using her hand that he still held. Because of the force he exerted to pull her, she fell back and landed with her head in his lap. Despite this, he still kept his other hand on the shoulder closer to him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, looing sharply at him.

"Is there anyone you can talk to about this?" he asked.

"Albus and McGonagall," she said immediately.

"Do they understand?" Lupin asked pointedly but softly.

Lin's eyes began to glisten with tears once more. She looked up at him sadly and said, "No."

"Make me understand. Tell me," he said slightly more forcefully. As he spoke, he put a hand on her cheek, making sure that she could not look away.

Almost instantly, Lin took a hold of his wrist and pulled it away from her face. When she released his wrist however, she did not attempt to rise. Instead, she brushed her hair back, revealing an ear that tapered to a delicate point.

Lupin frowned in bewilderment. That was quite simply one thing he had not expected. One of his hands hesitantly reached out and touched the point, almost as though it would shatter at the slightest touch.

"What are you?" he asked, his voice unintentionally puzzled.

"I assume you've heard of the fey folk," she began.

He nodded.

"There are two ways to distinguish them: light or dark and little people or _Nairveith_ (normal sized people). I am a _Nairveith_ of the light, specifically a sylph."

"That's impossible! They're extinct, and you don't even have wings!" Lupin exclaimed.

"I cast a spell when Dumbledore said I could stay here. My wings grew into my body in a _very_ painful process. I can separate them at will, but that is extremely painful as well. Ans as to being extinct, we are quite close to extinction. However, we still have one settlement in a range of European mountains, which I shall not name."

"Why can't you just go back to your people to escape this mess?" he asked, puzzled.

Quite suddenly, she became grim and said. "In can never return," she said, looking away from him.

"Why not?" he asked, frowning.

"A...very evil being came to our settlement. He was so powerful that we could not stop him. He talked with our leader. He had several conditions that had to be met otherwise he would destroy the settlement and kill everyone. He wanted a vial of sylph tears, a condor egg (which I'm sure you've heard is quite valuable), a young hippogriff, and a young, beautiful sylph female. There were only 18 of us to choose from..."

"He chose you, didn't he?" Lupin finished for her.

She looked back to him for a second and nodded.

"What was he? A wizard?"

"If only it were so...He is a maedar," she said.

"A what?" Lupin asked. He knew more about dark creatures than almost anyone, but he had never heard of a 'maedar'.

"A male medusa. They do not petrify with a look. In fact, they're immune to it," she said factually.

"Why haven't I heard of them before?" he asked.

"They're even more uncommon than medusa. Hardly anyone has even heard of them, and even fewer know that they actually exist. I think there are about ten in the world right now. They all live in southern Europe," she said, filling him on some information.

"What do they look like?" he asked, more than ready to watch out for any for her.

"You've seen one. The boggart turned into him," Lin said, controlling her voice quite carefully.

Lupin noticed and took her hands in his. Then, he asked, "What happened?"

Her muscles clenched in fear. Observing this, Lupin began to rub the backs of her hands with his thumbs. She began to relax her muscles, but she still did not speak. Instead, she turned her hands to grasp one of his in both of hers. Slowly, he moved his hand to rest on top of hers.

She began to speak, very quietly at first. Her volume grew as she continued. "He took me to his lair deep in the Rhodopes of Greece. He...he told me that I was his mate," she said. Her voice broke on the last word. With that, she broke down into tears.

Instantly and most certainly on reflex, Lupin wrapped his arms around her tightly. After a minute, she took a deep, long breath and said quietly, "Maedar mate for life...They will pursue their mate to the ends of the earth...He said that I could never leave, and that if I did, he would find me and drag me back...back to that dark, windless, soulless cave..."

"He hasn't found you for 87 years. Perhaps he won't find you," Lupin said reassuringly.

"He said that he could sense me," Lin said quietly, horrified.

"Have faith in Dumbledore. He has cast spells on the castle to protect against things like that," he reminded her.

"Lupin..."

"Remus," he corrected entirely on instinct.

"Remus..." she whispered, "He is more powerful than me..."

"What is his name?" Lupin asked. _In all this time, she hasn't once said his name. Why? Who is he?_

"Vaeldin," she whispered after a second. She shuddered for a second before continuing her tale of sorrow. "As soon as he left, I flew away. He would have found me had I returned to my people. So, I just kept flying. One of the centaurs found me passed out from exhaustion in the Forbidden Forest. They took care of me, and one of them told Dumbledore of me. He took me in, taught me English, and helped me blend in here..." She paused her took take another shuddering breath. "I can never leave. The spells on the castle protect me. If I leave, he will find me...Even if I stay here, he might find a way, despite the spells."

Lupin just held her closer. She was literally on the edge of hysteria. Nothing he could say would convince her of her safety. As she continued to cling to him, she whispered, "...I'm afraid...afraid that someone will found out and tell the Ministry..."

"Does someone suspect you?" he asked, catching the implication in her tone.

"Snape," Lin said bluntly.

"I'll help you hide from him. I promise," Remus said reassuringly.

"Thank you," Lin said, pulling away. However, she still retained her death grip on his pajamas.

It was then that he noticed the weariness in her eyes. She did not even seem to radiate her ethereal radiance anymore. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, gently holding her chin to carefully examine her face.

Lin smiled wearily and said, "It is nothing, Remus. I am just tired from the levitation spell with which I saved Harry. After all, it was a lot of speed to work against."

"You should rest," Remus said, scooting over on the bed and guiding her into the new space.

"I know, but..." Lin began to say.

"No excuses. You need to rest. Besides, would you rather return to your Dormitory and the students waiting to question you?" he said, guiding her shoulders and head back to rest on the bed and pillow.

Lin smiled and said simply, "Good point." Seconds later, her breathing slowed and her eyes closed, testifying her exhaustion.

Remus smiled and slid down on the bed so that he was laying next to Lin. He turned toward her and relaxed her grip on his pajamas. There, he hesitated before tentatively placing his arms around her. He would not admit it, but he had longed to hold her like that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"He looks a bit peaky," Ron's voice said.

"Peaky? What do you expect? He fell over a hundred feet!" either Fred or George said.

The other twin continued, "Yeah. Come on, Ron. Let's drop you off the Astronomy Tower and see what you look like."

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does," Harry said as his vision came back. Many of his fellow Gryffindors, who were crowded around him, smiled in appreciation of his joke and that he was conscious once again.

Harry sat up as Hermione asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, brilliant," he answered sarcastically.

"You gave us a right good scare there, mate," either Fred or George said.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"WEell, you fell off your broom..." Ron began.

"Really? I meant the match. Who won?"

"Um, no one blames you, Harry. The dementors aren't supposed to come inside the Grounds. It was really lucky Lin was there, or you would've died-"

"What did Lin do?" Harry asked.

"She cast this spell without even using her wand. It slowed you down so you just touched down on the ground," Hermione said. It was obvious that she was in awe of such magic.

"It was wicked," Fred and George said in unison.

"Anyway, Dumbledore was furious. He sent the dementors away, but them he hurried off somewhere," Hermione said.

"All of the teachers were in a hurry, too," Ron said.

"But there's something else, Harry," Hermione said hesitantly.

"When you fell off your broom, it sort of blew into the Whomping Willow," Ron said, unwrapping a blanket to show him the slivered remains of his Nimbus 2000.

Harry sat back on the bed, attempting to hide his sorrow for his broom stick. Eventually, his friends coaxed him to talk again. After all, they were his friends.

ooooooooooo

Four hours later, Lin woke to the feeling of a warm body resting gently against her torso and head. A pair of strong arms was wrapped around her, holding her close. Her legs were entwined with someone's. She could even feel a forehead against hers.

Her first reaction was panic. _Has he found me? Am I his prisoner, his _mate_ again?_ However, she realized that this person was far too short to be Vaeldin. But then who was this?

She could hear soft breathing from very close to her. She could even feel the exhales on her lips. She could smell something woodsy and comforting...and a werewolf no more than two days after transformation. Remus.

Abruptly, Lin opened her eyes, and there he was, literally face to face with her. Her muscles tensed. She was not used to being so close to anyone, even Albus. However, something stopped her rfom instantly pushing herself out of his arms. He looked so peaceful, and all of the lines of worry and weariness were gone form his face. _No! He's a human! He'll die while I'm still young! Wait...how am I even considering him?_

Carefully, Lin peeled Remus's arms from her and hopped out of the bed. As soon as she was free, she ran from the room. She did not stop running until she was outside under the starry night sky. Even then, she kept walking quickly. Deeper and deeper she travelled into the Forbidden Forest, refusing to stop or even slow her pace.

When she was finally near the heart of the forest, she stopped, threw back her head, and yelled in a high, clear, tremendous voice, "Firenze!"

Minutes later, a centaur came galloping into the little clearing, led to that spot by the birds themselves. "_Thank you, my friends,"_ Lin said to them in her native language.

"It has been too long, Lin," Firenze the centaur said, walking over to embrace her.

"I am sorry, my friend, for the delay. Many things have happened at Hogwarts of late," she said wearily, though she was only mentally tired.

"Are the dementors the problem?" he asked.

Lin shook her head and said, "No. Remus Lupin, the new professor, knows what I am now. But, I almost revealed my true form in front of the entire school."

"There are trials coming for you. I have seen it in the stars. But, at the end you will be safe. And when I checked, Venus was rising," Firenze said seriously, though a tad less so at the end.

"Firenze, you know me better than that. I won't let myself feel that way about a human," Lin said, shaking her head.

"You said it yourself: he isn't human. He is a werewolf," the centaur pointed out.

"That makes no difference in lifespan," Lin said, her head drooping in unconscious sorrow.

"Actually, that's because they are killed by age fifty. They live for 200 years," Firenze said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What?" Lin exclaimed.

"Your professor will live almost as long as you-" he said.

"He's not _my_ professor," Lin interjected.

Firenze sighed and said, "How about a ride, my little one?"

"We really must ride more often," Lin said as she gracefully jumped up onto his back.

"Gallop or trot?" the centaur asked in anticipation.

"I could use a good gallop right now," Lin said jovially, wrapping her arms around Firenze's strong torso.

And they were off. The centaur ran through the forest with the sylph on his back, as close to flying as she could come without the pain of separating her wings. Lin closed her eyes and felt the wind whipping on her face. All too soon, the sun began to peek over the top of the trees.

At this, the break of dawn, Firenze slowed and trotted to the rocky shore of the lake. This side of the lake was no where near where anyone from Hogwarts came. Thus, the odd pair could sit out on the rocks and catch the sunrise.

"I missed this," Lin said more than half an hour later.

"I missed _you_," Firenze said pointedly. "You spend too much time in that castle. You were made for nature, the air, the wind, not a cold castle."

"Or a cave, a dark, cold cave," Lin said.

"Don't think about that, Lin. You are here now with friends that love you as their own family. You have your werewolf, and you have Dumbledore's protective spells. You have all you need here, so be happy, my sister," the centaur said, reaching over to touch her hand.

Slowly, Lin began to smile. "Thank you, Brother. I needed that," she said, turning to smile directly at him.

Moments later, they both turned their gazes back to the panorama before them, and remained as such for a few more hours.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

That very same day, Harry went to Lupin's office. When he was bade to come in, he walked in and said, "Professor?"

"Ah, Harry. I heard about your broomstick. Is there any chance of fixing it?" Lupin asked. Harry turned to see the weary professor sitting at his desk correcting papers.

"No. It blew into the Whomping Willow," Harry said sadly.

"I'm sorry," Lupin said sincerely.

"Did you hear about the Dementors, too?" Harry asked.

"Actually, I did. They've been growing restless for some time. I suppose that's the reason you fell," Lupin said.

"Yes...Professor, why do they affect me so...I mean, more than everyone else," Harry said.

"The dementors are amongst the foulest creatures to walk this Earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with absolutely nothing but their worst experiences. You are not weak, Harry. The dementors simply affect you most because there are true horrors in your past, Harry, horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of," Lupin explained.

"I'm scared, Professor," Harry admitted.

"Well, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't," Lupin said reassuringly.

"I need to know how to fight them. You could teach me. You made that dementor on the train go away," Harry said.

"No. That was-" Lupin began to say. However, he caught himself, remembering not to tell anyone about Lin. "There was only one, and I am hardly an expert." _Lin is._

"But you made it go away," Harry persisted.

"Very well. After all, the dementors seem to have a particular interest in you. I'll teach you, Harry, but after the holidays. For now I need to rest," Lupin said.

That was all Harry needed to hear. He turned to leave. As he left, he said, "Thank you, Professor."

As soon as the door was closed, Lupin took a deep breath. _I almost told him. I need to be more careful, but how did she hide what she did?_

_ooooooooooooooooooo  
_

For the rest of the weekend, Lupin saw nothing of Lin. Even Harry and Hermione, whom he asked on Sunday at dinner, had not seen her at all. Apparently, all of her luggage was moved out of Gryffindor Tower on Saturday just after the Quidditch game. No one knew where she was.

The story he heard from everyone was that she was studying for her NEWTs. Somehow, the entire student body knew about this, and apparently everyone believed it.

The question was: why was she avoiding him? He knew for sure she was not studying. She had just told him some of her darkest and most closely kept secrets, yet she was avoiding her now...Unless...

Maybe he had scared her away by holding her as she slept. After all, the last time she was intimate with a man-_ male_- he tried to trap her in a dark cave completely cut off from the natural environment she couldn't live without. With an experience like that holding her back, it'd be nearly impossible for him to be as close to her as he wished.

..._Wait...What?...Oh, what is wrong with me? She's older than my father!...I have to be more careful. I _can't_ let this happen._

_ooooooooooooooo  
_

For the entire weekend, Lin never once took a step into Hogwarts castle. She spent the whole of her time outside, whether it was in the forest or by the lake. She got back in touch with her friends amongst the centaurs and other creatures of the forest.

In her heart, she knew that she was using this as merely an escape from Remus. Eventually, she would have to face it, face all of this. With another stretch of teaching in front of her, Lin would rather do that sooner than later. Just as she knew he was puzzled, she knew Albus would be the proctor of every written exam she would take. She also was quite sure that he would have the Hogwarts staff administer the practical tests. He would not let a Ministry official be so near to her and her abilities, lest they find out the truth.

All of that meant that Lin was presented with the perfect opportunity to test her new resolve: her DADA practical exam. They would be alone, except for maybe Albus; but she could ask him not to come to that exam quite easily.

That plan brought about a new question: what would she tell him?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

That very same Monday dawned bright and clear. Lin, as usual, woke before the sun even began to rise. She went through her normal routine for the pre-dawn hours. She put on a stylish sundress, drank a cup of chai tea, went for a walk down to the lake, and read some Shakespearean sonnets to educate herself in the English language before anyone else in the castle was awake. By the time the house elves were working in the kitchens, she was down there to get a bowl of fruit. After that, she stayed in her room, mostly to avoid Lupin so she didn't lose her nerve.

Through the whole of the morning, Lin toiled hour after hour writing as quickly as lightning with no one but Albus for company. At that pace, she finished all of her written exams by the time the noon bell rang, allowing the both of them to pause for a well-deserved lunch.

The entirety of her afternoon hours would be filled with a line of practical exams. Unfortunately, she could not whip through these as fast as she had the written half. for the obvious reason that she had to go by the pace of the examining teacher. These exams would progress one after another for six hours straight with hardly a pause. There were but two factors which made the process bearable. The first of these was the fact that she had long since mastered everything she was to be tested on. Then again, her first time through the NEWTs had not been such a walk in the park. She had very nearly failed some of her exams the first time. Thankfully, there was no risk of that happening this time. The second consoling factor of the day's events was far more personal. The final practical exam in her schedule was Defence Against the Dark Arts. She would have time to tell him rather than having to worry about another teacher intruding. After that, her NEWTs would be complete once again.

Of course, every practical exam went perfectly. Thanks to that, she was congratulated by each of the teachers, except for Snape, in her feat.

"Remarkable! That's remarkable, Miss Sarvial! Marvelous!" That, of course, was Flitwick. He always had bee quite enthusiastic.

"Miss Sarvial, that was very good. I suppose I should not have expected less, considering." For a second, Lin had panicked at this. She had forgotten that McGonagall knew what she was.

"You, Miss Sarvial, never fail to disappoint." Such a jovial woman, Prof. Sprout was.

"Ye've al'ays been a good student, Lin. Good job!" Ah, Hagrid. He was always so honest and appreciative of hard work...or what appeared to be so.

"I suppose this is...adequate..." Snape never failed to demerit any student not a part of Slytherin.

There was no practically exam for ancient runes, muggle studies, history of magic, arithmancy, or divination. She did not need to worry about divination or astronomy. She had not taken either class this time.

Finally, the last of the practical exams came. As soon as Rem- Professor Lupin was done testing her skills, he began the same spiel as the rest, but as a friend.

"Well, Lin, you certainly didn't disappoint me. To your performance today, I say wonderful job. Congratulations. You've finished your NEWTs again."

Lin chuckled at that and said, "So I have, Lupin. So I have."

"Remus," he corrected, stepping closer to place a hand on the small of her back. He used that hand to guide her out of the Headmaster's office and out into the hallway. As they entered the hallway, Lin said, "Remus, it's not appropriate."

"Not anymore. You've graduated now. As soon as your results are in, you're hired," Remus said happily.

"Other people will not see it that way. They will assume that which is far beyond reality," she said, placing a hand on his arm.

At that, the professor pulled his hand away. However, he bent down further and said quietly, "You speak in riddles."

Lin laughed as they continued on their way to the Great Hall. The whole way there, they continued to talk and, though neither of them noticed it, flirt. Just before they reached the doors, Lin said quietly, "I'll meet you in your office after dinner. I have to tell you something."


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you for the reviews!_

_I finally decided what to do with this part!_

**Chapter Eleven**

Through all of dinner, Remus's mind was plagued by speculations, worries, and anticipation. He felt as if he would burst at times, yet he left no one the wiser to his internal confliction. He refused to bother anyone with his most likely foolish worries.

After dinner, he hurried out of the Great Hall straight to his office, arriving there even before Lin. Once there, he paced nervously, unable to stop the adrenaline which flowed through his veins.

Minutes later, Lin walked in. As soon as she saw him, she said firmly, "Calm down, Remus. There is nothing to be worried about."

Obviously, the issue could not be that serious, so Remus allowed himself to relax. Now, he was able to sit down without fidgeting or feeling the need to move around. While he did that, Lin perched herself on an empty spot on his desk. When he looked up, her legs were crossed elegantly with her hands clasped on top of them, resting gently on her leggings. Her sweater-dress had ridden up to a above mid-thigh, but not enough to reveal anything other than more of her slender legs.

She looked at him directly and said informatively, "One of my friends, a centaur, told me something quite interesting recently."

Remus frowned in confusion and asked, "What did he say?"

"He said that werewolves live to be about 200 years old, but they are almost always killed before they're 50," she said after a second.

"He must be mistaken. No werewolf has lived over 60 that I know of," Remus said, tilting his head to the side as he thought.

"He met a werewolf that was 180 years old," Lin said, leaning forward slightly.

Remus's eyes widened at this. His mind was running wild with what this could mean, not only for himself, but for the world. "What?" he asked.

Lin said seriously, "Believe me, Remus. I would not lie about this."

Remus looked like he wanted to ask another question, but his mind was running in overdrive and thus he could not articulate it. Noticing this, Lin answered the one question that was most likely on his mind, "I will live to be about 300 years old."

"Lin..." he said softly. That fact was like the icing on the cake, overwhelming his brain with speculations.

"Shhh," she whispered in return, "I know it's a lot to take in. Sit down for a minute." She guided him into an arm chair by the fireplace. There he sat staring at the floor in a daze.

After some minutes, Remus finally looked up. He swallowed once before asking, "What does this mean for us?"

Lin looked to the side and closed her eyes for a minute before she exhaled and looked at him. "It means that I can trust you and confide in you without fear of you dying long before me," she said. Relief rang in every word.

That was not what Remus wanted to hear. He hid that well, though, and said, "That's a relief."

Lin laughed breathlessly and said, "You have no idea."

Remus frowned again and said with curiosity, "Tell me."

"Since I came here, I have had to live with the knowledge that no one will live as long as me. My first time through school, I made the mistake of making friends. I later watched them grow old and die while I lived on. Albus was the only person who understood that, and even he will not live as long as me," she explained. Never once as she spoke did she break eye contact with him. "Now you have fallen prey to a similar affliction to mine. For that I am sorry."

"Don't say that," Remus said, shaking his head and standing up. He quickly stepped toward her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I would rather have this longer life where I have met you than a shorter, miserable one."

Lin smiled at that and said, "Thank you. That relieves some of the guilt."

"I am glad to be of service," Remus said, bowing dramatically.

Lin threw her head back and laughed. "You'd do better helping me trudge through the snow on Saturday in Hogsmeade," she said teasingly.

"Ever at your assistance," he said, both teasing and accepting.

_Please review!_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

The following Saturday there was to be another Hogsmeade trip. An unfortunate side effect to the fact that it was December was the foot deep snow that accompanied the season. Despite that, students and teachers alike bundled up in cloaks, coats, hats, gloves, mittens, boots, and the like and trudged through the snow to the village.

Among these people was a rather comical-looking pair: Professor Remus Lupin and newly appointed Assistant Professor Liriana Sarvial. One wore his old, ratty coat and cloak and a Gryffindor scarf that was probably from his school days to protect from the cold. The other wore a black, wool peacoat, an expensive cloak, a beret with her hair gathered inside it, a scarf around her neck, and designer gloves. Of course, they both had normal clothes underneath, but they had to bundle up to ward off the cold.

Both of them agreed to hold off on buying butterbeer until they had been around to some of the shops. Because of that, they walked first to Honeydukes.

Inside the store, Remus pulled Lin over to the chocolates. He bought what he always bought there: milk chocolate bars. Not only was it classic and tasty, it was cheap. Lin only smiled at this before going over to the shelves upon shelves of more exotic candies. Here, she found sugar cubes, her favourite Remus soon found.

Once they had purchased their respective sweets, they hurried out of the store, away from the students scrambling for candy. Once they were in the open, if snowy, air again, Lin said, "Let's get our shopping done before the students move on to the stores that _don't_ have sugary confections."

Remus chuckled and said, "Sounds like a plan." Hand in hand, the two went to Gladrags Wizardwear and Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. The whole time, they chatted, getting to know all sorts of likes and dislikes that had never come up before.

Finally, one fact surprised Remus. "I've never danced before."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"I've never danced before. I never really had the chance, living at Hogwarts," Lin said, shrugging.

After a second of gaping silence, Remus said firmly, "Come with me." He took her hand to guide her toward the village square. On one side of the square, a group of carol singers stood. Around the square, several couples danced to the singers' song.

"You don't mean to...But we're in _public_...What?" she said, quite obviously surprised.

"Shhh. Just follow my lead," he said softly, taking one of her hands in his own. He placed her hand on his shoulder and his other hand on her waist.

With a single preparatory breath, they were spinning around in time with the other couples. Of course, Lin had no problem following his steps. In fact, she handled that task so well that Remus could hardly believe that she hadn't danced before. Perhaps, she was in his mind again? But no, she would have told him. She was just a natural.

As they continued to dance, her eyes slowly moved up from staring at his shoulder in concentration. As the movements got easier for her, she looked at his face. A second later, she met his eyes. She could not look away.

Minutes later, the song ended. Hesitantly, the pair broke apart, still staring into each other's eyes. As they laboured to catch their breath, they each stepped back from each other. New emotions showed on their faces: confusion, fear, surprise, and realization. A tense silence ensued, culminating in Remus suggesting, "Why don't stop in the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer."

After a second, Lin nodded, and they both headed in that direction, always walking at least a foot apart.

A surprise waited for them at the door. Literally the second the door was open, a line of shrunken heads insisted that she not come in because she was underage. With that, the proverbial ice was broken. The pair burst out into fits of laughter. Lin said through her merriment, "I am definitely not underage."

"Oh, very well. Go in, then," one of the heads said.

The two walked in to an empty table, still laughing. "I can't believe that actually thought I was that young!" Lin said jovially.

"You don't even look that young," Remus put in.

"The usual?" a voice asked. They both turned to see Madam Rosmerta.

"Yes," the pair responded in unison.

After that, they calmed down and chatted as though the dance had never happened.

oooooooooooo

Over an hour later, the door to the Three Broomsticks opened, but seemingly no one entered. The door was caught by two students whom Remus recognized immediately: Ron and Hermione. They were told to go away, though rudely, by the shrunken heads.

As the door closed, Lin listened more intently and heard quite easily footsteps crossing the room and going into the back room. Instantly, her thoughts went to James Potter. She knew that he had inherited an invisibility cloak. Apparently, that same cloak had gone to Harry. Thinking nothing of it, Lin turned her attention back to Remus.

Minutes later, the footsteps returned through the main room. They were hurried and uneven breathing went with that sound. "Excuse me, Remus. I'll be back in a minute. I need to do something," she said hurriedly as she got up and followed Harry out.

Looking around, Lin saw Ron and Hermione sitting outside the Three Broomsticks, most likely waiting for Harry. She hurried over to the two of them and said, "Harry just left. He's heading toward the Shrieking Shack, and seems most upset about something."

Ron began to run after Harry. Hermione was close behind, only staying long enough to say a quick, "Thank you," to Lin.

As soon as that whole business was done, Lin returned to Remus.

"Where were you?" he asked, obviously puzzled.

"It's complicated," she said, shaking her head. That was a clear sign to Remus not to delve further into the matter. Surprisingly, it did not even sit and fester in the back of his mind.

The rest of the day passed much like the beginning of it: in amiable companionship. They walked back to the castle together and kept talking well into the night as they sat in Remus's office.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Day by day, Christmas drew closer. The castle was mostly devoid of occupants as the majority of the students had gone back home for the holiday. The few remaining students tended to stick together as they enjoyed their time off of classes, putting off their homework until after Christmas.

Lin no longer fell into that category, which allowed her to spend more time than ever with Remus. He was growing more and more ill as the days progressed because the full moon was drawing ever closer. This did not stop either of them from reading together, going on walks, and playing Wizard's Chess. The walks got progressively shorter as the days rolled by, but their pattern was otherwise uninterrupted until the arrival of Christmas Eve.

All of that night, Lin sat by her window alone, staring out at the falling snow through the entire night. Another year was gone, another year of her life which Vaeldin had taken from her. Yet, had he not driven her into hiding, she would never have met Albus or Remus. She would be merely existing amongst her people where here she had the option of truly living.

It was at this time that one of her rare urges to write came upon her. In that time, she just wrote what came to mind.

_ What hope is left now in this frozen world? The snow swirls and the trees die. What now is left alive? What hope can we possibly see? Not a single animal disturbs the quiet. No bird, beast, or fish can break the quiet. And yet, hope remains, even as a robin flies back to its old nesting place, signalling the arrival of spring. What a beautiful herald among the twisted, dead, lifeless limbs of forgotten beauty! The trees that seemed so dead have life yet in them. That is our hope, the hope that warmth will come as the birds come in spring. The world shall not die in the depths of winter, but merely slumber until a new spring comes and peaks its leaves through the snow. A fool's hope it is, but hope it remains. Small and faint it may seem now, but we must cling to it. As firmly as we cling to life, we must cling to our fool's hope, for without hope, we are nothing more than the dirt that life was born from. As we look at the world with our eyes filled with hope, it seems a little bit brighter._

Her writing had, at least, served one purpose. She now had a renewed sense of hope that her life was not a complete waste. Now, at least, she could pass on her knowledge to children again.

ooooooooooo

The following morning, Lin woke late after having actually slept for more than two hours. That being said, she woke at 6am. That left her a little time to go for a walk around the grounds...in the five feet of snow. That left her with the option of walking around Hogwarts, which she promptly began to do.

If she was correct in her assumptions about the remaining occupants, none of them would be awake for at least another hour. Most would sleep in for much longer being that it was a holiday. With that in mind, Lin wandered the halls for another two hours before she saw another soul. Poor, lonely Remus.

"Lin," he said as he turned the corner ahead of her.

"Hello, Remus, and happy Christmas," she said cheerfully.

"What are you doing up so early?" Remus asked with genuine curiosity.

Lin's eyebrow shot up at that question. Her physiognomy nearly oozed a single question: _Don't you remember?_ The answer was quite clear: he did not remember. She continued to watch his face closely until, finally, a look of realization, of epiphany, shone on his face. Now, he knew.

"I'm so sorry, Lin. I completely forgot," he said sincerely, taking a few steps quickly toward her.

Lin smiled fondly and said, "You could say your mind was muddled by holiday cheer."

"Holiday ch-...oh..." Remus said. His eyes widened as he finally remembered what had been bugging him as long as he'd been awake. It was Christmas. Of course, he had known, but only now did he realize what that meant.

"Well, have you opened your gifts yet?" Remus asked.

"Not yet. I wanted to wait for you. Now that I am not a student, it is no longer improper to spend time with you over the holiday break," she said, smiling.

"Which we've been doing for the past several days," he added in.

"Yes. However, it was not Christmas. Now that it was, I only wish to ask: your room or mine?" she asked, failing to notice the allusion that would have been quite obvious were English her first language.

"E-excuse me?" Remus asked hesitantly and very, very awkwardly.

"Where do you wish to open the presents?" Lin asked, rephrasing. She was still blissfully unaware of her indiscretion.

"Definitely yours. As I remember, you actually keep the fire going," Remus said jokingly, recovering himself quickly.

The two turned down another hallway toward her new (to Remus) room. This was actually the room that Lin had occupied since she arrived at Hogwarts.


	14. Chapter 14

_In so many ways, this chapter is a giant ball of cliche. In other words...FLUFF.  
_

**Chapter Fourteen**

Her sitting room was nearly bare of furniture. Two comfortable looking chairs stood near the fire. On the other side of the small room, the sun shone through a frost covered window onto a small tree decorated with little, intricate, wooden figures. About ten presents were lined up under the tree.

Lin guided him over to the tree first. Remus looked inquiringly at her for this, but she simply said, "Your presents are under there, as well."

Remus merely shook his head and chose one of his presents. He should have expected that she would do that. By the time he looked up, Lin was not beside him anymore. He looked around to see her already curled up in one of the chairs, waiting for him. "Come along, Remus. I thought you were looking forward to this," she said teasingly.

Remus chuckled and walked over to plop himself down in the other chair. As soon as he was settled, he asked, "From whom is your present?"

"Albus," she said with a smile. "And you?"

"Harry," Remus said, obviously surprised.

"Think of it as a compliment for your terrific teaching," Lin said, smiling.

"Terrific teaching?" Remus echoed. His eyes held a pensive look that made him too silent for Lin's liking.

"You are the best Defence teacher the boy's ever had. He's just showing his appreciation. Open it," Lin urged.

Remus snorted before ripping into the paper. He heard Lin begin to do the same with her gift. Seconds later, each held a book. Lin's was _Philosophy Vitæ Aeternae_, while Remus's was simply_ Encyclopaedia Noctis Monstra_.

As they each read the titles of each other's books, they could not help but laugh at how precisely these books characterised them both.

"What a coincidence," Lin said, smiling.

"All right, next gift," Remus said. He quickly set his book on the floor and hurried back to the tree.

He chose another at random and checked the label. It was for Lin. Without even looking at the sender, he handed it to Lin. He then chose another present at random. This one was for him.

They returned to the chairs to open their next, but first, Lin said, "McGonagall. Yours?"

"Hermione," Remus said.

"My, my. Aren't we popular with the students?" she said jokingly.

"And just who are _you_ popular with?" Remus asked.

"Teachers," Lin said bluntly.

"Even Snape?" he asked, obviously teasing.

"He barely even knows I exist," she shot back.

"Back to the matter at hand..."

"Ah, yes..." And with that, they were tearing into their next set of presents.

When Lin saw the contents of her box, she smiled hugely and said, "She always knew these were my favourite."

"What did you get?" Remus asked.

"Sugar cubes," Lin said, showing him the about twenty or so boxes of sugar cubes. "And you?"

"Blood pops," he said, trying very hard not to laugh.

"If you don't want those, I'll have them," Lin said quite seriously.

Instantly, Remus was frowning in confusion. "Do you like blood?" he asked carefully.

"It tastes good," she said with a shrug. Remus could hold it in no longer. He burst out laughing.

"All right, stop poking fun at me. Remember, I'm a sprite," Lin said, setting her box on top of her new book.

Remus's laughter died down, but he was still smiling. "Let's go. There are still presents," he said, pulling her to her feet.

Once again, they each returned to their seats with a new present. Remus began to tear into the packaging, but Lin said, "Wait. Who's it from?"

Remus looked at the tag before looking up and saying bluntly, "You."

"Well, mine's from...you." She looked up at him and said, "You knew."

Remus merely smiled and said, "Let's guess what these are."

"You first," Lin said, smiling.

Remus shook it and listened. After a second, he asked hesitantly, "Clothes?"

"Open it," she said. Her smile had become more secretive.

Carefully, Remus tore away the rest of the wrapping. What was left in his lap had him in awe. "Lin...You didn't have to...Really..."

"But you need them, and you're my friend," Lin said.

"Thank you," he said, looking down at two new pairs of robes in his size and a very comfortable looking winter coat that was most certainly warmer than his.

"I thought you'd like that." _She's beautiful when she smiles._

Remus looked up to her again and said, "You won't be able to guess what yours is."

"We'll see about that," she said teasingly. She shook the box, but the sound did not give away any specific item. She looked at him and said seriously, "I don't know."

"I told you. Now, open it," he said.

Lin snorted but did as she was told. There was a beautiful, wooden box under the wrappings, but that didn't show much. She looked up at him questioning, but he just gestured back to the box.

Carefully, she opened the box, only to be awed by the contents. It was a jewellery box designed to hold but one item: a beautiful, cameo necklace on a gold chain. On it was the picture of a woman.

"It's beautiful..." Lin said in awe, simply staring at it.

"It's yours," Remus said, standing to walk over to her.

"I couldn't..." she insisted, looking up to see him standing over her.

Remus gently placed his hand on hers. "It's yours." After a second, he picked the necklace up gently and fastened it around her neck.

"Who was she?" Lin asked, looking down at the pendant still.

"My great-great-grandmother," Remus said before pulling her slowly to her feet.

"She was beautiful," Lin said breathlessly, looking gratefully up into his eyes.

_So are you_, he thought, but he could not bring himself to say it. He couldn't ruin this moment by revealing the depth of his feelings.

"Well, I don't think my other present for you compares to this, but open it and see," Lin said after an awkward moment.

Remus smiled at her for another second before her words sunk in. By the time he realized what she had said, she was already looking at him expectantly. Quickly, Remus hurried over to the tree and retrieved the other package from her.

He quickly sat down with the package in his lap but neglected to open it. "Go on," Lin said encouragingly, gesturing to the package.

Remus smiled fondly that _she_ was the impatient one and began to open the package. The brown paper fell away revealing a stack of three books: _Destiny Continuitque_, _The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,_ and _Animalia Silvas_.

Remus looked back up at her with wide eyes and an open mouth. "How...how did you know?...Where did you find it?" he asked, struggling to find words.

"I found that book in a curious room here called the Room of Requirements. The other two are relatively common in comparison," she said matter-of-factly, though she still smiled at him. Of course, the latter two books were far more common in relation to the former. The first of the three was decidedly more rare than the others in that no more than a hundred copies of it existed, and he was _holding one._

"I couldn't..." Remus said, shaking his head seriously.

Lin stood and walked over to him. She placed her hands over his and wrapped his fingers around the books. "They are yours just as this necklace is mine. I will not take them back," she said seriously.

Remus looked down and remarked quietly, "What a change. First you are reluctant to receive such a gift, and now I am. This really is a wonderful Christmas."

Lin leaned down and whispered in his ear, "I agree." She then stood straight and touched the tip of his nose before returning to her chair.

A few seconds passed in silence as each contemplated the wondrous gift they were given. Finally, Remus broke the silence to ask, "Are there any more?"

Lin glanced back at the tree and said, "There are two more."

Remus smiled to her and said, "Ready?"

"As ever," Lin replied with a nod. The two rose from their seats as one and walked over to the tree. Each retrieved a gift and went back over to the two chairs on the warmer side of the room.

The two both paused before opening their gifts. They glanced at each other, almost preparing themselves for whatever the last presents would be. After a second, Lin nodded. Remus returned the nod. With that, they were tearing into the packaging.

ooooooooo

_Philosophy Vitae Aeternae_ means "The Philosophy of Eternal Life."

_Encyclopaedia Noctis Monstra_ means "Encyclopedia of Nocturnal Monsters."

_Destiny Continuitque_ means "A Touch of Destiny."

_Animalia Silvas_ means "Woodland Animals."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Remus held up a successfully unwrapped bundle of socks all tied together with a piece of string. After a second, he burst out laughing. He set down the socks and looked at the tag. Albus. That explained it. Only he would buy someone socks for Christmas.

He picked up the socks again and turned to Lin. As he attempted to contain his laughter, he said, "Albus got me socks."

Lin was frozen in place. Her eyes were fixed on the package in her lap. They were wide in horror. In her lap sat a glass ball. Inside the ball, there was a white rose and a red rose. The red rose was in full bloom while the white rose looked quite withered.

"Lin? What is that?" Remus asked.

"It's a Mating Globe," she choked out. She was obviously horrified.

"What does that mean?" he asked cautiously.

"We have to get to Albus now," Lin said, looking up at him for only a second before she stood and ran. Remus tried to follow as well as he could, she was simply too fast. She outran him by far.

By the time he reached Albus's office, the staircase was there waiting for him and the door above was open. Inside, Albus was holding tightly onto Lin's hand. In his other hand, his wand was drawn, waiting for some type of danger.

The moment Albus saw Remus, he cast a quick spell. The air around Remus glowed blue for a second before Albus gestured for him to come over quickly. Remus did.

"Hold on to her. Don't let her go for anything," he said.

"What's going on, Albus?"

"He doesn't know? I'm surprised at you, Lin. You won't even fight your own battles now," a dark, deep voice said, floating up from the stairs.

"It's him," she whispered in terror.

"Yes, my Love. It is me. I'm disappointed. When your rose wilted, I expected that you would have at least chosen someone of your own race, but no. You chose a werewolf," the voice mocked, though it remained smooth.

"At least, he'd be a good companion. All you ever did was keep me in the dark," Lin spat back.

"Ah, now I see it. You think you can help him. Nothing can help him. No one will want to help him once I'm through with him," the voice said darkly and threateningly. "But who's this? Another? My, my, you have been busy, Lin. Two mortals in love with you? Whatever will your people think? Ah, yes. Nothing. They're all dead."

"No!" she screamed, trying to force her way free of the two men's grips on her. They were too strong.

"That's right, Lin. I destroyed every single one of them, and all because you left. How does that make you feel?" the voice asked. "Does it make you angry? Do you want to kill me? Well, here I am."

Quite suddenly, a man appeared in the doorway. But he was no ordinary man. There were blue tattoos all over his body, which was only covered by a worn kilt. He was completely bald, and his physiognomy was handsome, strong, and cruel. He was very tall, almost seven feet in fact, and muscular. Overall, he was cut a very imposing figure.

"Stupefy!" Albus yelled instantly.

The man, no. This was no man. This had to be Vaeldin. Vaeldin held up a hand and deflected the spell as if it was nothing. "Well, now. This is interesting. An old man and a pup. Maybe next will be a goblin," Vaeldin taunted.

With that, Albus and Remus began to throw every curse and spell they could think of at Vaeldin. However, he was very powerful. He deflected them all easily.

After several minutes, he patience wore thin. The second that happened, he said to them, "Enough play. I want her back." That very instant, he swept his arm around in a wide gesture. A wave of energy blasted outward from there and hit both men square in the chest, knocking them unconscious.

Vaeldin's very next task was to find Lin. When he could not see her, he merely closed his eyes and vanished into the shadows. "Trying to hide, are we, Lin? That's not very polite of you. After all, I won the duel, which means I won you. Stop trying to deny it."

Vaeldin rematerialized right behind Lin, who was apparently hiding in the upper room of the office. "Now, you're mine," he said as he wrapped his arms around her and disappeared into the night.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

_The mountains are tall and welcoming. The wind whistles past, seeming to whisper, '_Fly. Fly. Fly."_ The open sky beckons to me just as the ground almost seems disappear from my feet. The freedom of flight is almost within my grasp._

_ But, it cannot be. I am trapped here inescapably. No bars rest in the windows, nor chains hold me captive; for there is no opening. There is no light, no window, and no air. No escape is possible, no calm is possible. Darkness, fear, sorrow, and hopelessness rule here. They always have, and they always will._

_ I never thought I would be here again. I apologize if I seem overly pessimistic, but one cannot help but look on the darker side when the future holds nothing but darkness and entrapment._

_ The mountains remain, and the wind whistles over their tops. The sky continues to beckon, but the ground swallows me whole, enveloping me in darkness inescapably, immovably, eternally._

_ There is no escape from this darkness. It follows me everywhere, clawing out with its grasping hands when I try to run and cooing soft words into my ears while tending to the injuries thereof. Remus..._

_ I am more alone than I have ever been, and yet I am never alone. A great loneliness weighs upon my heart, but I will never be alone. The presence of darkness, of silence, of cold is not a person. It cannot be else I would not be so alone, so forsaken. Hands may hold me and confine me, but I am alone._

_ There are few who can change that. If Voldemort recruits us, I will be released, if only in a small way. If Vaeldin allows me more freedom, he will watch me far more closely. If Albus finds me, he will be no match for Vaeldin._

_ If one glimmer, one single whisper of sound were heard, I would have found it by now. There is none, and I can no longer make any. What I would give for just a single word spoken, a single sound amidst this unending silence!_

_ ...Help me, Albus...Please..._

_ ...Remus..._

_ooooooooooooo  
_

Albus staggered back a step before sinking into a nearby chair. His eyes stared straight ahead in shock. Quietly, he said to himself, "How?"

"Albus, where has he taken her? Can we follow him? How do we fight him?" Remus asked earnestly, rushing over to the Headmaster's side.

"We cannot fight him, not on our own. He is too powerful. We'll need help," Albus said pensively, trying to think through the overwhelming feeling of failure.

"Who can we trust?" Remus asked, beginning to pace. He was beginning to calm down, at least.

Albus turned to him and said bluntly, "The Order."

"Voldemort will find out if we go to them," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Do we have a choice? Voldemort might try to recruit Vaeldin _and_ Lin," Albus pointed out.

Remus sighed and paused in his pacing. "The next meeting is tomorrow night. We'll need to organize this as quickly as possible."

"I'll come up with a way to find her. Worry about convincing them to help," Albus said. After all, he was the one with the vast number of years of knowledge.

Remus nodded and started to walk out. However, he stopped and turned back hesitantly. "...Albus?" he asked tentatively.

"Hmm?" the far older man asked, already searching through his large rack of memory phials for anything that could help.

"Promise me you'll find her," he said, nearly breaking down again.

Albus looked up wearily and said with complete honesty and sincerity, "I promise."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

_In the morning, mist hovers over the lake. The water seems to be glass, or even a mirror, reflecting the sky. This is the safest time to come outside. The cold deters _him_. _He_ will not follow me in the morning, though he made it clear that he was watching me. Freedom has become a luxury for me, one that I only glimpse anymore. People say that if one is free in mind and spirit, they are free. Here, there can be no freedom. My mind is forever imprisoned, and my spirit is crushed. My only hope lies in Albus, as I know _he_ will never let me go._

_ooooooooooooo  
_

Professor Lupin had been very quiet all week. All of the students noticed. He seemed to be almost on the verge of having a breakdown. Theories abounded, and almost every single one of them had to do with the now-conspicuous absence of Lin. Still more theories had been thought up and spread around about her sudden absence. Most people agreed that they had seen her before Christmas, but they had all been too caught up in their own celebrating to see her that day. Also, from the day after Christmas on, Lupin had been sad, the Headmaster had been more reclusive than usual, and no one had seen Lin. Some people, especially the girls, thought that Lin and Lupin were in love, but he drove her away on Christmas. Others rejected that theory, for they thought Lupin would have gone after her if that was true. The most popular theory today was that she had gotten a job at the Ministry and left, and Lupin was secretly in love with her and mourning her absence. No one knew the truth.

Finally, one student decided to ask the man himself. This student was Hermione, and she just so happened to drag Ron and Harry along with her after class to ask.

"Yes?" Lupin asked, hardly looking up as he sat heavily at his desk.

"Why are you so sad, sir?" she asked daringly.

"I don't believe that's any of your business. Now, hurry up or you'll be late to class," he said, trying to brush them off.

"It's because of Lin, isn't it?"

The Professor paused in his already languid movements to clean off his desk. His face betrayed his pain.

"Why did she leave?" Hermione asked gently.

Lupin sighed sadly, but nevertheless he said, "Not by choice..." He then looked up and made eye contact with her. "Hermione, go to the Headmaster about this. Tell him I sent you, and that he should tell you about _that_ day."

Lupin did not say another word. Instead, he stood and walked up to his personal quarters.

"Hermione, you'll tell us what he says, right?" Harry asked.

She looked at the two of them and said, "I don't think there's anything we can do about this."

"We won't know unless you tell us," Harry returned.

"Yeah," Ron added inarticulately.

Hermione sighed and said, "Very well. I'll go after dinner."


	18. Chapter 18

_Sorry it took so long to update! I've been very busy!_

**Chapter Eighteen**_  
_

_Try as I might, there is no way out. I have yet to even breathe fresh air whilst not under his careful eye. The only time when he does not literally hold me is the morning, and that only changed after more than a week of convincing, wheedling, and repercussions. To gain that small measure of freedom, I agreed to allow him to hold as I sleep without even a word of protest._

_ Thankfully, he has not forced me yet, but he is getting impatient. He might resort to that soon._

_ooooooooooo  
_

After dinner, Hermione hurried after the Headmaster. She stopped him in the hallway and asked, "Headmaster, do you know what happened to Lin?"

"Ah. I was wondering when you would notice, Miss Granger. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you, for that would be a betrayal of trust," Dumbledore said, looking down his long, crooked nose at her.

"But, Sir, Professor Lupin said for you to tell me about 'that day'," she said, persisting.

The aging wizard quickly looked back to the student. His gaze was serious and sorrowful, just like Lupin's had been. "Miss Granger, would you kindly come up to my office, please? This matter warrants more privacy," he said before beginning to walk back to his office.

As soon as they were in the privacy of his office, Dumbledore turned back to Hermione and said very seriously, "Allow me to impress upon you now the seriousness of this matter. It is not to be shared with anyone."

"I understand, Headmaster," Hermione said quickly with a nod.

"Lin has been kidnapped by a very powerful...being. He wants to...how do I say this?...he claims that he loves her...There is also a chance that he might join Voldemort. If he joins, he will force her to as well," Dumbledore explained, trying to at least tell her the gist of what was happening while retaining some amount of secrecy.

"Professor, what exactly is this...person?" Hermione asked. Of course, she would notice how vague he was purposely being.

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you that, Miss Granger. I will only say that Professor Lupin has been greatly affected by this event. There is only so much I can do to help him," Dumbledore said, hinting at the true purpose of this conversation.

Hermione, being intelligent, understood to what he was hinting and nodded in understanding. She then stood and said, "Thank you, Professor."

As she began to walk out, Dumbledore called after her, "Miss Granger, tread lightly."

She heard, but she did not pause. She had to tell them. The three of them could possibly help.

Several hours later, three Gryffindors remained awake, and they could think of no way to help.

oooooooooo

The following night, Dumbledore was not in his office. This in and of itself would not be that unusual, but for the fact that Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Lupin were gone as well. They, as well as a handful of other witches and wizards, met in a secret place, which even I, your humble narrator, am unable to disclose.

Disregarding this, one major fact linked these people together: they all had been and would be the Order of the Phoenix, though of course there were more than just them. Those others were Alastor 'Mad-Eye, Kingsley Shaklebolt, and Arthur Weasley. They could only hope that this many witches and wizards would be sufficient for the task ahead of them.

At this secret location, Dumbledore stood from his seat at the head of the table and said to them all, "I have been hiding something from you, not quite all of you, but most. For the past 87 years I have been hiding a sylph at Hogwarts."

"Are you mad, Albus? They're very flighty creatures. Set one of them off and they could destroy the castle!" Mad-Eye interjected immediately.

"I know, Alastor. I've kept her calm for this long-" Albus began.

Snape interrupted and said, "But now it is unchecked."

"No, Severus. Now _she_ was kidnapped," Albus corrected.

"By whom?" the pale, greasy man asked nasally.

"A maedar, a male medusa," Albus said.

"Those are only myth, Albus. This can't be-" Kingsley began to say.

"Maedar are very real, Kingsley, and one of them has taken Lin," Albus said seriously and sadly.

"Dumbledore, perhaps I misunderstood you. Are you suggesting that _Lin_ is a sylph?" Snape asked, sounding very doubtful, sneering almost.

"_The_ sylph, Severus. He destroyed all but her because she hid from him," he answered seriously.

"And what are we to do about it, Albus?" Mad-Eye growled.

"Find her, save her," McGonagall said, sounding almost aghast that they hadn't considered that.

"Impossible. Maedar hide their lairs too well. Even if we did know where they were, maedar are very powerful creatures. We could not hope to even distract him long, let alone defeat him," Snape said, shaking his head.

"I thought you would know something of them. Now, Severus, tell me, have you ever found any way of locating their lairs?"

"No. The only way would be if one of them were to tell you where it is. Even then, there would be powerful wards in place," he said, shaking his head.

Albus sighed and sat heavily.

"There's still a chance we'll find a way," Arthur spoke up.

"There has to be," Remus said dismally, though he sounded quite determined to do _anything_ for her.


	19. Chapter 19

_I'm so sorry its taken so long to update! I've been quite ill and only now been able to continue writing. By the way, please review. Thank you to every who did, and everyone who hasn't: PLEASE REVIEW!  
_

**Chapter Nineteen**

_He's gone?..._

_ He's gone! Now's my chance!_

Quickly, she stood and ran to a more open cavern where she could work. Once she stood in the centre, she raised her arms and allowed her energy to coalesce into a single point: a ball of light just in front of her.

She slowly folded her hands on her sternum and closed her eyes in concentration. A second later, she forced her arms outward, sending the ball of light flying through the walls to her target.

Dumbledore sat in his office, pouring over old tomes and books that might have some reference to a ward-breaking location spell.

In the midst of this search, a ball of light flew through the window and came to a stop in the centre of the room, quite suddenly completely stationary.

Lin's face, marred by lines of worry, fear, and sleeplessness, coalesced just outside the ball and floated there for a second before she began to speak.

"_Albus! His lair is in the geographic centre of the Rhodopes. It's a cave very close to a lake shaped like a V. Look for the caverns. They're your best chance. I have to go. He's coming b-"_

Her face suddenly disappeared. Only seconds later, it was replaced by Vaeldin's enraged physiognomy.

"_I help you, I care for you, I even wait for you to be ready, and this is the thanks I get? You're trying to run off with the mutt and the old gaffer! If you don't do as I say, I'll not wait to take what's mine!"_

Both faces disappeared, but that did not hold Albus's attention. The bright ball of magic had turned black, and it was expanding quickly. The second it touched the floor, it burst outwarts with tremendous force, blowing everything over as a high, piercing scream filled the air.

The scream cut off abruptly as the shockwave halted. Albus waited in tense silence on baited breath. What would be nxt?

When it appeared as though there would be no further surprises, he sprang to his feet and raced over to the fireplace. Quickly, he contacted the very same group that would help, telling them all to floo there.

Within minutes they were all assembled in his office, waiting to hear what had happened. With the addition of the final member of their group (Severus Snape), Dumbledore quickly explained that Lin had contacted him. He did not venture into much detail for fear of wasting precious time on unnecessary questions. What mattered was that they could get to Lin. They could help her.

The group quickly apparated, following the instructions Albus had given them, to the geographic centre of the Rhodopes. They arrived in front of the mouth of a large cave. The darkness within seemed to pull at them and beckon to them. They went in.

After a minute of running in the semi-darkness, they heard a faint sound: a scream in the distance. They all only went faster, though none quite so much as Remus and Albus.

As they approached the source of the sound, they heard other sounds along with the screams: moans and heavy breathe. Their meaning was not lost to anyone, but none dared speak as they tried desperately to get there in time to stop this repugnant act.

Abruptly the moans stopped, but the screams became more ear-piercing. Just as quickly, the screams were cut off. The only sound remaining was that of their feet trampling through the caves, occasionally splashing in a puddle of who knows what liquid, for by the smell it certainly was not water. In this new silence, they could hear someone sobbing, presumably the same person who had been screaming. They arrived a minute later.

A single candelabrum illuminated the shadowy cave. It was otherwise empty, save for a curtain on the far side.

They hurried to the curtain. Albus reached it first and pulled it back, dreading what he would find. In this little corner of the cave, a bed was shoved against the wall. Lin lay curled on her side, crying as she hid her eyes. She laid bare before them. Her only covering was a silk sheet pulled over part of her body. Through it, they could all see the blood running down her leg, her _inner_ thigh.

Instantly, Remus hurried forward and draped his cloak over her to hide her. He did not spare a glance at the womanly flesh glistening in the dim light. His only objective had been to shield her.

Lin recoiled the second he touched her, looking wildly around at the newcomers. She jumped to her feet with the speed and grace of long practice, though she did not long remain there. Whilst she remained standing, she attempted to run. Her legs would allow her to do no such thing. She collapsed, and Remus caught her, scooping her up into his arms nearly effortlessly. _So light...Featherlight..._

"Albus, he's coming!" Arthur called from the entrance to the cave.

"To the Burrow, quickly!" Albus responded.

A series of pops sounded in the cave as one by one, except for Remus and Lin, they disapparated. It took Remus only a second longer, but in that time, Vaeldin was at the entrance to the cave. Before the maedar could stop him, Remus disapparated to the Burrow, landing heavily on his knees in the living room.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

Within seconds, someone had taken Lin from Remus's arms. He looked up as he attempted to catch his breath. Arthur laid her down on the Weasleys' weathered, orange sofa, being careful to keep the cloak wrapped around her.

Literally the second Arthur stepped away Albus ran forward to her. Her eyes were closed almost restfully. She had not moved from where Mr. Weasley had set her down. Apparently, she was unconscious again.

As soon as he could, Remus rushed to her side, taking one of her hands in his. "Albus, we need to heal her."

"We can't. He's charmed the wounds," the elderly man replied sadly and worriedly.

"What can we do, then?" he asked.

"Stay with her, Remus. Severus, do you know of anything which could help?"

"I know one which might help, might. If not, I can create a suitable remedy," he said, turning to the fireplace.

Most of the rest of them filed out after him, flooing to their destination. Now, all that remained were Minerva (Prof. McGonagall), Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, Remus, Albus, Lin, and Alastor Moody.

"He's still out there, Albus. He'll come for her, no matter the protections we give her. You know that," Moody said seriously before he, too, left.

"Albus, what has he done to her?" Minerva asked.

"He's claimed her, and in doing so broken something in her. She won't live long unless she has a reason to fight."

"Is she fading?" the elderly woman asked worriedly.

Albus looked up to her and said in a voice that was far from calm, "Yes."

oooooooooo

Back in the living room, Remus refused to leave Lin even for a moment. For the rest of that day, he sat beside her, sometimes holding her hand or running his fingers through her hair. He even slept on the floor beside her that night. _I will not leave you again...I love you..._

Lin did not wake the next day or the day after. They all began to despair of her ever waking up, but Remus would hear none of it. He sat by her day after day as she grew every thinner and paler. He dripped water and soup down her throat, hoping it would sustain her until she woke. Still she slumbered on.

After two weeks, Remus began to lose hope. He told no one, but they could all see the change in him when they came to visit. He ate less and less, slept not at all, and spent most of the day staring off into space with the most pained expression on his face.

Another week went by and winter break came. The Weasley children and Harry returned to the burrow, and Hermione visited nearly daily. The cheer of the holidays was overshadowed by an ever-present grief which grew more marked day by day. This effect was personified by the now assured presence of Lin on the couch and Remus sitting beside her, nearly as gone to the world as she.

On Christmas eve, harry, Ron, and Hermione finally decided to attempt to speak with him. Hermione, being the girl, was most comfortable in speaking about feelings, so she was the one who tapped his shoulder. She was the one to which he turned his head with a forlorn look in his eyes. For a second, she was struck dumb, unable to speak for her sympathy for his obvious anguish.

When she recovered herself, Hermione asked, "Has she gotten any better?"

"No," he whispered, sounding half strangled and more than a little anguished.

"Is there any chance?" she asked delicately.

"Of course there's a chance. There has to be a chance," he said vehemently.

An awkward silence ensued. Seconds later, it was punctured by Hermione asking the question bluntly, "Do you love her?"

Remus silently looked at Hermione. Pain and longing mixed on his face as he turned back to look at Lin. "Time changes everything," he said, letting his head drop to rest on Lin's arm. It moved.

_It moved. She moved. She moved!_

"Get Albus, Molly, and Severus!" Remus said urgently as his eyes searched for anymore movement. Her fingers twitched. Her eyes flicked back and forth under the lids.

Remus placed a hand on her cheek whilst grasping her other hand in his. Her lips moved slightly, almost a twitch. Her voice, lowering even than a whisper, spoke as the wind, "No...Remus, help..."

"Lin, wake up," he pleaded as Molly Weasley raced into the room.

"How is she? I've just flooed Dumbledore. He'll be here within a minute," she said in one long breath.

"She spoke, but she's still asleep. I think she's having a nightmare," he said, looking from the aging woman back to his love.


	21. Chapter 21

_I know some questions will be left by this chapter, but bear with me. They will soon be answered._

**Chapter Twenty-One**

Less than a minute later, Albus Dumbledore walked into the living room of the Burrow. By now, Lin was thrashing back and forth, screaming in pain and fright. The entire Weasley family, Harry, and Remus, but not Hermione, were gathered in the living room. Remus held her arms whilst Fred and George attempted to hold her legs down and keep her on the couch.

Quickly, Dumbledore hurried over to stand beside her head. Once here, he placed one hand on her forehead and the other on her cheek. He then said in a commanding voice, "An _galad ar mornie, an gwai ar nen, an naur ar kemen, echoir! __Kelo, aeg lammoth! Le una bel orehiello! Tulo nin, mel nin!"_

Lin surprised them all by suddenly going limp. Fred and George backed away slowly from her, unsure if she would began to convulse again or not. Dumbledore, however, stayed exactly where he was, watching her face closely.

The seconds ticked by in tense silence until Lin's eyes flew open. As soon as her eyes locked on him, she reached up and grasped him by his arm, knocking Remus to the ground in the process. She whispered in a hoarse voice, "_Hir tula!"_

"_Utulie'n aure!" _Dumbledore assured her.

_ "U-chebin estel anim..."_ she whispered in return dropping back to the couch.

"Lin..." Remus said, picking himself up and hurrying to her.

"Remus..." she whispered, looking around only with her eyes for him. Her body remained motionless as though she had not the energy to move anymore.

"You are safe here..." he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Lin let out a sob and wrapped her arms around Remus. She wept into his shoulder, and it did not seem as though she would stop any time soon. He would hardly have let go of her had she tried. He was far too relieved that she was awake. She was not in nearly so much danger of fading as she had been whilst unconscious.

After awhile, Lin's tears subsided. She slowly separated herself from Remus and looked up at him, looking very tired. "Remus..." she whispered, seeing nothing but his face. "Thank you..."

As the two continued to stare at each other, Ron made the mistake of moving for the door. Instantly, Lin's eyes flicked to him and noticed everyone else that was in the room. Her first reaction was to shrink away from them, that is until she recognized them.

She sank back to lay on the couch again and said in all-consuming relief, "I am safe."

"You won't fade now?" Dumbledore asked cautiously.

Lin looked up at him and smiled. "No. I am among friends once more."

ooooooooooooooooooooo

Over the next few days, Lin recovered physically at an accelerated rate. However, she was plagued by nightmares similar to but somewhat less severe than the one she had experienced prior to waking up the first time. They gradually decreased in severity until after about three weeks she slept through the night without even a bad dream. This was mostly due to Remus' presence and Albus' spells. The former had convinced her within a week that what had happened was not in any way her fault. The latter had used a number of spells on her to decrease the effect that terrible memory had on her.

The morning after that full night of uninterrupted sleep, Lin heard thumping coming from the attic. She asked Mrs. Weasley, who was at the time making tea, "What is that?"

"What? Oh! That's just a ghoul in the attic. It's been there for years," she said, hardly seeming to care.

"I can get rid of it if you would like," Lin offered.

"It's not a bother, dear. I am you are still recovering," Mrs. Weasley began to say, providing multiple reasons for her not to bother herself with it.

"Nonsense! It hardly requires much work on my part, and I am nearly recovered. It shall not be a problem in the slightest," Lin assured her, already walking toward the stairs.

Remus came into the room then and asked, "Where's Lin going?"

"She's going to get rid of the ghoul," Mrs. Weasley responded with a smile.

"What? _I_ don't even know how to get rid of a ghoul. How can she-"

"I just need to talk to it," Lin said from half way up the first flight of stairs.

"If you want, dear, you can just tell it to not bang on the pipes," Mrs. Weasley said.

Lin nodded and began to run up the stairs. Over an hour later, she had not returned.

"I should go up after her," Remus said, worried.

"Nonsense, Remus! She's probably just talking with Fred and George. You know they've been wanting to talk with her for awhile now," Mrs. Weasley said placatingly.

"No. I need to see," he said, hurrying up the stairs after her.


End file.
